BIRDS LAEIDAE — EISSA. 



853 



opinion, must give place to that of Ord, cited above ; he also designates it as the " Banded-tail 

 Tern." To determine what species was described under the above name (if it was not distinct) 

 has long been considered a problem which it was very desirable to solve ; it agrees in every 

 particular with specimens of the young of honapartei, now under examination. Mr. Ord's 

 description is as follows : 



" Beneath pure white ; above blue ash ; below the auriculars a patch of dark slate ; tail 

 ■white, short, almost even, crossed by a dark brown band ; a line of brown from the shoulder of 

 the wing to the tertials. Weight full five ounces." 



The slender and tern-like form of the bill probably induced Mr. Ord to put it in Sterna. 



Note by Dr. Sucldey. — "Abundant on Puget's Sound, in the neighborhood of which I obtained 

 several specimens. This species is the only gull commonly eaten by the Nisqually Indians. I 

 broiled one of these birds and found it about equal, in gastronomic qualities, to the Rallus 

 crepitans." 



List of specimens. 



Catal. 

 No. 



6937 

 7934 

 7393 

 6467 

 0468 

 5569 

 C469 



8432 

 B434 

 8438 



Locality. 



Coast New York 



Nelson river, H. B. T. 



Arctic America 



California 



San Diego, Cal 



Presidio, Cal 



Petaluma, Cal 



Puget's Sound, W.T.. 



do 



do 



do 



do 



When col- 

 lected. 



Aug. 



, 1856 



Sept. — , 1857 

 Aug. 30, 1857 

 do 



Whence obtained. 



Cah. G. N. Lawrence, 



D.Gunn 



J.Gould 



.do.. 



Lt. Trowbridge. 

 do 



E. Samuels.... 



Dr.Suckley 



do 



A. Campbell..., 



do 



do 



Orig'l, Collected by— Length, 

 No. I 



Jno. Isbister. 



139 



558 



Stretch 

 of wings. 



14.00 



13.00 

 14.50 

 14.00 



Dr. Kcnnerly 



do 



do i 12.00 



32.00 



Wing. 



10.00 



10.25 

 9.25 

 10.00 



Remarks. 



Eyes bl'k, legs yellow. 



CHROICOCEPHALUS MINUTUS, B r u c h . 



Tlie liittlc GuU. 



Larusminnlus, Pallas, Reise, III, 702.— Bonaf. Syn. 1828, No. 292.— Rich. & Sw. F. B. A. II, 1831,426.— Nutt. 



Wan. II, 1834, 289. 

 Chroicocephalus minutws, Brucii, Cab. Jour. 1855, 290. 

 Sp. Ch. — Jldult. Head and upper part of the neck black ; a white crescent behind the eyes ; part of the lower neck and 

 under plumage roseate white ; rump and tail pure white ; back and wings of a pure and very pale bluish gray ; primaries and 

 secondaries ash gray tipped with white ; bill deep lake red ; iris dark brown ; legs and feet carmine. Length, about lli-^ 

 inches. 



Ilab. — Arctic America.' Europe. 



There is no specimen in the collection from North America, although a fine series from 

 Europe has been presented to the Smithsonian Institution by the Norwich Museum, England. 



RISSA, Leach. 



Rissa, Leach, Steph. Gen. Zool. XIII, 1825, 180. Type Larvs tridactijlus, L. 



Ch. — Bill rather long, strong, and much compressed ; culmen straight at base, curved from the nostrils to the tip ; nostrils 

 lateral and longitudinal ; wings long and pointed ; tail even ; tarsi rather short ; toes slender and united by a full web ; hind 

 toe rudimentary or very small. 



