15. LARUS, 231 



Sci. Ahjcr., Ois. ii. p. 187 (1867) ; Hume, 8tr. F. 1873, p. 138 

 (Karachi) ; Heine ^ Reich. Nomencl. Mus. Hein. p. 359 (1890). 



Larus subroseiis, Heur/l. Syst. Uehers. p. 69 (1856 : Red Sea) ; id. 

 Sitz. Ak. Wiss. PfYm, 1856, p. 321 ; id. in reterm. Mitth. 1861, 

 p. 29 (cf. Henfjl. Ont. N.O.-Afr. ii. Bd. 2, p. 1412). 



Lams brehmi, ileiiijl. Si/st. Uehers. p. 69 (1856: Red Sea); id. Sitz. 

 Ak. Wiss. Wicn, 1856, p. 321 ; id. in Peterm. Mitth. 1861, p. 29 

 (Gulf of Suez : cf. Heugl. Orn. N.O.-Afr. ut supra). 



Gelastes columbinus, i?/A Consp. Av. ii. p. 227 (1857: Caspian); 

 Olphe-Gall. Orn. Eur. Occid. \m. x. p. 90 (1880). 



Gelastes leucoceplialus, Bp. Consp. Av. ii. p. 227 (1857). 



Larus lambruscliini, Schle(/. Mus. P.-Bas, Lari, p. 28 (1863) ; Hume, 

 Str. Feath. i. p. 27-1 (1873). 



liauibruscliinia gelastes, Salvad. Ucc. Sard. p. 128 (1864 : type of 

 g'enus). 



Gelastes tenuirostris, Taylor, Ibis, 1867, p. 72 (Keneh, Upper 

 Egypt). 



Gelastes genei, Salvad. F'aun. Ital., Ucc. p. 290 (1872) ; Giglioli, 

 Ibis, 1881, p. 219 (Sardinia and Sicily) ; id. Avif. Ital. p. 425 

 (1886) ; id. i. Pesoc. Av. Ital. p. 642 (1889) ; id. ii. Pesoc. p. 652 

 (1890 : breeds in Sardinia) ; Salvad. Ucc. Ital. p. 285 (1887). 



Larus arabicus, Hemjn: ^ Fhretib., Saunders, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 193, 

 note (Arabia : type in Berlin Mus.). 



Gelastes gelastes, Prusina, Orn. Cruatica, p. 94 (1889). 



Adult in breeding-plumcif/e. Head, neck, tail, and under surface 

 white, all except the head being suffused with a beautiful roseate or 

 salmon-pink tint ; mantle pearl-grey, wing-coverts a shade darker ; 

 secondaries grey to their tips, without any white edges ; outermost 

 primary white, excei)t the outer web, the tip, and the narrow 

 extreme edge of the inner web, which are black ; 2nd quill white 

 on both webs, with a broader black inner border ; 3rd similar, with 

 wider inner border; 4th wider black on the inner web, passing 

 into grey near the shaft ; 4th and 5th quills grey on both webs, and 

 tipped with white, so that the black now forms a subterminal band ; 

 upper quills grey ; under wing-coverts and axillaries grey : hill 

 crimson ; " iris white " (E. C. Taylor) ; tarsi and toes coral-red. 

 Total length 15-5 to 1 6 inches, culmen 2-25, wing 12-25, tail 5, 

 tarsus 2, middle too with claw 1'8. The male is a mere trifle 

 larger than the female. 



Immature. Similar to the above, but the dark markings on the 

 primaries have a browner tint, and narrow lines of black run up 

 from the tips along the outer webs of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quills, 

 while there is more brown in some of the middle primaries. 



Young. Similar, but without the rose-colour ; a little greyish in 

 front of the eye and on the auriculars ; some brown feathers on the 

 upper wing-coverts and long secondaries ; more dark brown on the 

 outer primaries {sec cut, p. 232), and a narrow terminal or sub- 

 terminal band to the rectrices : bill, tarsi, and toes yellow. 



In its wing-pattern this species decidedly resembles L. ridi- 

 hundus, and is not unlike it in winter plumage, though larger. 

 L. (jdastcs is, however, a frequenter of sea or salt water, and nests 



