276 LAKID^. 



37. Larus californicus. 



Larus californicus, Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. vi. p. 79 (1854) ; Baird, 



Cass., ^- Lawr. B. N. Am. p. 846 (1858) ; Coues, Pr. Philad. Acad. 



1862, p. 300; Elliot, New ^ Vnficj. B. N. Amer. ii. pi. 52 (1869) ; 



Coues, B. N. -West, ^.QM (1874); Hensh. Ann. Lye. N. Y. xi. 



p. 13 (1874 : Utah) ; Lawr. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. iv. p. 51 (1876: 



Teliuantepec) ; Ridgu: Rep. Surv. iOth Par. p. 637 (1877) ; Lten- 



shaiv. Rep. Surv. 1879 W. of lOOth Merid. p. 331 (1880) ; Ridgiv. 



Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. no. 21, p. 52 (1881); Coues, Chech^l. N. 



Amer. B. p. 121 (1882); Ridgw. Cat. B. Fish. E.rhib. p. 31 



(1883); Belding, Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. v. p. 549 (1883: Lower 



Gala.) ; Coues, Key N. Amer. B. 2nd ed. p. 745 (1884) ; Baird, 



Breioer, 8f Ridgw. Water-B. N. Amer. ii. p. 242 (1884) ; A.O.U. 



Check-l. N. Amer. B. p. 90 (1886) ; Ferrari-Perez, Pr. U.S. Nat. 



Mus. ix. p. 179 (1886 : South of Vera Cruz [?]) ; Ridgw. Man. N. 



Amer. B. p. 31 (1887) ; Cooke, Rep. B. Migr. Missi.ssippi Vail. 



p. 56 (1888 : Kansas, furthest east) ; R. Mactarl. Pr. U.S. Nat. 



Mus. xiv. p. 418 (1891 : Lower Anderson R., breeds) ; Loomis, 



Pr. Calif. Acad, v, p. 214 (1895). 

 Laroides californicus, Bp. C. R. xlii. p. 770 (1856) ; id. Consp. Av. 



ii. p. 220 (1857). 

 Larus delawarensis, var. californicus, Coues, Key N. Amer. B. p. 313 



(1872). 



Adult male in breeding-jyhimage. Similar, but larger than L. de- 

 Irnvarensis ; mantle much darker and of a slate-grey ; scapulars and 

 secondaries more broadly tipped with white ; the outer primaries 

 with a larger proportion of black ; the 1st quill chiefly black, with 

 fully 2 inches of the terminal portion (including the shaft) white; 

 the 2nd with a small grey wedge basally, a white mirror but a 

 black shaft, a black subterminal bar and a white tip ; the 3rd, 4th, 

 and 5th black, with white tips and increasing grey on the basal 

 portions, the apices of the wedges not passing into white ; 6th with 

 a narrow subterminal bar of black ; the remaining qiiills grey with 

 white tips : bill " bright yellow, with an irregularly shaped spot of 

 intense carmine near tip of lower mandible and a spot or bar of 

 black usually anterior to this on both mandibles, though sometimes 

 obsolete " (Henshaw) : orbital ring vermilion ; iris hazel ; tarsi and 

 toes greenish. Total length 20 inches, culmen 2-25, wing 15 to 

 15-5, tail 6-5, tarsus 2-2, middle toe with claw 2-1. 



The female is somewhat smaller than the male. 



In birds which are less mature than the example described there 

 is a narrow black subterminal bar on the first primary, and in the 

 previous year there is no mirror on the 2nd primary. 



Adult in ivinter. Like the above, but the head and upper neck 

 streaked with grej'ish brown. 



Young. Much darker brown throughout than the preceding 

 species ; no signs of grey on the secondaries nor on the basal por- 

 tions of the inner primaries, the paler inner webs being merely dull 

 brown ; tail-coverts broadly and closely barred ; rectrices almost 

 entirely umber-brown, with some mottlings of greyish white on the 

 outer feathers ; the extreme tips dull white : bill brownish basally, 

 black terminally ; tarsi and toes brown. 



