BIRDS — LAEIDAE — STEECOEAEIUS PAEASITICUS. 



839 



Sp. Ch.- — Jldult. Front, crown of the head, back, wings, and tail blackish brown ; sides and back part of the neck bright 

 yellow ; throat and entire under plumage white, with a band of brown spots extending across the upper part of the breast ; 

 sides and lower tail coverts barred with brown. Shafts of quills and tail feathers white ; bill greenish olive, black at the tip ; 

 legs and feet blaik. The middle tail feathers extend beyond the others for about two inches. They are rounded at the end, 

 and of a uniform breadth throughout. Length, 20 inches ; wing, 14 ; tail, 8 to 9 ; bill, \\ ; tarsus, 2. 



Ilab. — Labrador ; as far south as Now York in winter. One specimen taken in summer at Harrisburg, Pa. 



Young birds have the plumage of the upper parts blackish brown ; of the lower grayish 

 brown, with the feathers of the abdomen and lower tail coverts margined with dull ferruginous. 

 Tarsi and base of the toes and webs yellow. 



List of specimens. 



STEKCOEARIUS PAEASITICUS, Temminck. 



The Arctic Skna. 



Larus parasiticus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1756, 226. 

 Slei'corarius parasiticus, Temm. Man. d'Orn. II, 1820, 796. 



Lestris parasiticus, Bonap. Synop. 1828, No. 307. — Ib Conspectus, II, 1856, 208. 



Lestris richardsonii, Swain. F. B. A. II, 1831, 433 ; pi. Ix.xiii. — Nnrr. Man. II, 1834, 319. — Aud. Birds Amer. VII, 

 1844, 190 ; pi. cccclii. 



Sp. Ch. — Mult. Upper part of the head blackish brown ; nape and sides of the neck yellowish white ; remainder of upper 

 plumage blackish brown ; wings and tail darker ; shafts of the primaries white ; under plumage white ; bill bluish at the base 

 black at the point ; tarsi and feet black. The central tail feathers extend beyond the others about three inches ; they taper 

 slightly, varying but little in breadth until near the end, where they are abruptly accuminated, differing in this particular from 

 all the other species. Length, 20 to 22 inches ; wing, 13? ; tail, 6^ ; bill, l^j ; tarsi, IJ. 



Hab. — Arctic America ; breeds in the Barren Grounds ; coast of the United States from New York northward. 



List of specimens. 



