IVORY-GULL 



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species, characterised b\' its squared tail, the connection of the hind-toe 

 with the innermost of the three front ones by means of a notched web, 

 the large and curved claws, the extension of the feathering of the legs 

 nearly down to the joint between the shank and the second segment, 

 and the pure white plumage of the adult. Even young birds are 

 mainly white, though with a considerable amount of grey on the sides 

 of the head and throat ; and as the chick is also described as mainly 

 white, it is evident that this gull has been specially modified in colour- 

 ing for a life spent among the Polar ice. When in the air, the bird 

 is described as more resembling a tern than a gtuII. The nest is made 



MOUNTED IN THE ROWLAND WARD STUDIOS 



IVOKY-GULL (MALE). 



of green moss, or of fragments of driftwood, seaweed, etc., and placed 

 on a cliff at a considerable height above the sea ; and the one or 

 two eggs are remarkable for their pale tint, being either light stone- 

 colour or buff, marked with blotches of brown, and underlying purple 

 patches. 



The pure white colour from which the ivory-gull takes its name is 

 really amply sufficient to distinguish the species ; it may be added, 

 however, that the beak is greyish green tipped with yellow, the margin 

 of the eyelid brick-red, the coloured part of the eye brown, and the leg 

 black. Young birds differ by the presence of black spots on the back, 

 black tips to the primary quills, and a black band across the end of 

 the tail. On the other hand, the chick is wholl\- white, like the adult. 

 Full-ijrown birds measure i8 inches. 



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