142 



GULL GROUP 



less widely sundered from the \vader-t)-pc than is the dress of the 

 adults. The terns, it may be observed, connect the group with the 

 waders, althou<^h it is more convenient to commence the series with 

 the gulls, or typical members. 



In addition to the general prevalence of grey and white, with in 

 many cases more or less black or brown, in the plumage, at least in 

 summer, gulls, terns, and skuas are characterised externally by the 

 generally medium length of the beak, the fully webbed feet, the small 

 size ''or even occasional absence) of the hind -toe, which is never 

 included in the webbing of the other toes, and is raised slightly above 

 their level. The wings arc long, with eleven primary quills, of which, 



however, the terminal 

 one is so small as to be 

 inconspicuous and easily 

 overlooked ; the tail in- 

 variably has twelve 

 feathers ; the feathers 

 are provided with after- 

 shafts, the oil-gland on 

 the rump is tufted, and 

 the feather-bearing tract 

 on the neck is defined 

 by bare lateral areas, 

 and forms a fork as it 

 passes posteriorly on 

 to the back. Among 

 anatomical features, it 

 may be noted that the apertures in the skull for the nostrils (which 

 are themselves pervious) take the form of long slits ; and that the 

 lower part of the intestine is furnished with a pair of blind append- 

 ages, which are, however, small and functionless in the gulls and 

 terns. The eggs, which are few in number, and laid either on the 

 bare ground amid stones or in a scanty structure of grass or 

 seaweed doing duty for a nest, but occasionally in the deserted nests 

 of other birds in trees, are double-spotted like those of the waders ; 

 and the down-clad young are active and capable of running as soon as 

 hatched, although they are fed by their parents for the first few days 

 after their appearance in the world. As every one knows, gulls, terns, 

 and skuas are essentially birds of the sea, carnivorous, or perhaps 

 rather omnivorous in their diet, and spending most of their time on 

 the water or in the air, although during the daytime frequenting dry 



COMMON OfLL. 



