LARUS. 95 



"Adult female. — Very similar but, as a rule, somewhat browner on the 

 shoulders and with less lead-color on the throat, slightly smaller, and 

 with a weaker bill. 



"Immature. — Similar, but with even less lead-color, and a dark line 

 along the upper wing-coverts. 



"Young. — Browner generally and paler; forehead and crown grayish 

 brown; below the forehead a narrow white superciliary line conspicuous 

 by contrast against the blackish lores. 



"Fledgling (Ascension I.). — Umber-brown above and below; the 

 whitish streak above the lores very marked, and continuous round base of 

 bill; a slight grayish tint on forehead. 



"Doiuny nestling. — One about five days old (British Honduras: May 

 12, 1863) has the forehead and crown dull white, lores blackish, upper 

 surface mouse-brown, nape and throat darkest, lower parts paler. An- 

 other, only just hatched, is nearly uniform, sooty brown." (Saunders.) 



Subfamily LARIN.^. 



Of larger size than the terns; body and bill heavier; tail square or 

 nearly so. 



Genus LARUS Linn^us, 1758. 



Characters same as those given for the Subfamily. 



/Species. 



a^ Smaller; lengtli, 400 mm.: wing, 300 ridibundus (p. 95) 



a". Larger; length, 600 mm. ; wing. 450 vegae (p. 97) 



86. LARUS RIDIBUNDUS Linnteiis. 



LAUGHING GULL. 



Larus ridibundus Lixx.EUS, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 225; Sauxders, 

 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 25, 207; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 

 140; Gates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1901), 1, 208; McGregor and Worces- 

 ter, Hand-List (1906), 21. 



Luzon (Jagor, Murray, McGregor) ; Mindanao (Murray, Goodfelloic) . Europe, 

 northern Asia, Africa, and Indian Ocean; China to Malay Archipelago in winter. 



"Adult male in breeding plumage. — Hood coffee-brown; gray mantle, 

 white tail, and white under surface tinged with evanescent roseate; 

 pattern of outer primaries chiefly white, with black tips, and lilack margins 

 to inner wel)s; sliafts of three outer quills white: outermost (|uill wliite. 

 with a narrow black line along the greater part of outer web (touching 

 the shaft in all except very old birds), a black tip, and a blackish edge 

 to the inner margin; second quill similar, but with merely a short hair- 

 line of black on the outer web; tliird (Hiill witli a trille nuu'e black run- 

 ning u{)ward from the black tip along the outer web; fourth quill similar, 

 but with a gray center to inner web; fifth quill white on botli webs, and 

 with a minute white tip; sixtli similar, but tbo tip gray and l)roader, so 



