996 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LONGIPENNES. 



C. frank'lini. (To Sir John Franklin.) Franklin's Rosy Gull. "Prairie Pigeon." 



Adult (J 9 , in breeding plumage : Bill shorter than head, rather slender, attenuated and a little 

 decurved at the acute tip ; outline of both rami and gonys concave. Tarsus equal to middle 

 toe and claw. Bill red (carmine, lake, or vermilion), crossed with black near end. Legs dusky- 

 reddish. Edges of eyelids orange. Eyelids white, this color also reaching a little behind eye. 

 Hood deep slaty or plumbeous-black, encircling upper part of neck as well as head, and extend- 

 ing farther on throat than on nape. Mantle not quite so dark as in atricilla (more blue), darker 

 than in Philadelphia. First primary with outer vane black to within 1.00 of tip, the inner 

 pearly-white, crossed 1.00 or more from the tip by an isolated black bar an inch broad, thus 

 leaving the feather white on both webs for ].00 or more from tip. Next 5 primaries basally 

 of the color of the back, paler on inner web, both webs fading toward their tips into white, 

 each crossed by a black bar near the end, 2.00 wide on 2d primary, narrowing on successive 

 feathers to a small bar or pair of little spots on 6th ; tips of all these primaries pure white. 

 Other primaries, and all secondaries, colored like back, fading at tips into white ; shafts white, 

 sometimes black along the black portion of the feather. Tail very pale pearly-blue, the 3 

 lateral pairs of rectrices white — or rather tail white, lightly washed with pearly on 6 central 

 feathers. Neck all around, rump, broad tips of secondaries, and whole under parts white, the 

 latter rosy. Younger, that is to say, in summer plumage, and with a perfect hood, red bill, 

 etc., but primaries not yet having attained their perfect pattern : General coloration exactly as 

 before. Shafts of first 3 primaries black, of the rest gray, except along their black portions ; 

 1st with outer web wholly black, inner web pearly-gray, much like back but lighter, to within 

 2.00-3.00 of tip, then black for the rest of its extent ; 2d like 1st, but base of outer web like 

 the inner; on 3d, 4th, and 5th, successively, the black decreases in extent, till on 6th it is 

 merely a little bar, or pair of spots; tips of all primaries white; that of 1st smallest, that of 

 others successively increasing in size. Winter plumage : As in summer ; hood wanting or 

 indicated by a few slaty feathers about eyes, on auriculars and nape ; no rosy tint ; bill and 

 feet duller-colored. Young : Bill blackish, with pale base of under mandible ; feet flesh-colored ; 

 eye black. Traces of a hood, or nape largely slaty, etc., according to precise age. Outer 5-6 

 primaries wholly black in their continuity, rather lighter and somewhat slaty at base, with or 

 without a minute white speck at tip. Mantle gray or brown, more or less mixed with blue, 

 according to age. Tail ashy-white, with a broad black subterminal bar. Under parts white. 

 This appears to be the usual plumage of birds of the first autumn. Length about 14.00; ex- 

 tent 35.00; wing 11.25; tail about 4.50; culmen 1.30; gape ].75; height of bill at nostril 

 0.35; tarsus 1.60; middle toe and claw the same. Young smaller than adults : bill 1.10-1.20; 

 wing 10.00, etc. Winters to South and Central America ; in North America migrating through 

 the interior, chiefly west of the Mississippi, and east of the Rocky Mts. to the Arctic regions; 

 abundant; has never been observed in the Atlantic States. Breeds from southern Minnesota 

 northward, chiefly in British America ; nests on the ground about lakes and along rivers, and 

 in marshes and sloughs where it builds of rushes and grasses among standing rushes and grass 

 in shallow water; nest often afloat. Eggs usually 3, averaging 2.05 X 1-45, with great vari- 

 ation in size, shape, and coloration, closely resembling those of the Eskimo Curlew. Diet 

 largely insectivorous, feeding much on grasshoppers. 



C. Philadelphia. (To the city of that name. Fig. G^7 .) Bonaparte's Rosy Gull. 

 Bill shorter than head or tarsus, much compressed, very slender, like a Tern's ; both mandibles 

 with a slight but distinct notch near tip. Convexity of culmen slight, gradual from base to 

 apex; rami slightly concave ; gonys about straight. Nostrils very narrow. Tarsus equal to 

 middle toe and claw. Tail somewhat emarginate in the young. Adult (^ 9 , in breeding plu- 

 mage : Bill black. Mouth and eyelids carmine. Legs and feet coral-red, tinged with vermilion. 

 Webs bright vermilion. Hood plumbeous-slate, not so deep as in franklini, enveloping head 

 and upper part of neck, reaching farther in front than behind. White patches on eyelids nar- 



