818 



LARIN^. 



Larus hemprichi, Bjj. ; Heugl. Ibis, 1 859, p. 350 ; Blanford, Abys- 

 sinia, p. 441; id. East. Pers. ii. p. 292; Hume, Str. F. i. p. 279; iv. 

 444; V. 296; Murray, Rdhk., Zool., 8)'c., Sind, p. 248. 



Summer. — Forehead^ crown, nape, chin and throat chocolate brown ; 

 neck in front darker, neai'ly blackish brown, forming a sort of a " bib"; 

 on the upper breast, the edges of the bi-own of the back of the neck 

 margining the broad white demicollar of the same colour ; upper back, 

 scapulars, lesser, median and greater-coverts, also the secondaries and 

 tertials, deep chocolate brown, all the secondaries broadly tipped with 

 white ; primaries dark brown, nearly black, all, except the first three, 

 tipped with white ; edge of the wing white ; breast and sides of the 

 breast paler brown than the back ; abdomen, vent, under tail-coverts, 

 flanks, upper-tail and thigh-coverts white ; legs and feet yellowish, or 

 greyish yellow ; bill greenish drab, tipped red, with a subterminal black 

 bar ; irides dark brown. 



In winter the forehead and lores are a pale brown, also the crown of 

 the head and cheeks, the feathers here and there margined with greyish 

 white; breast pale brown, the feathers margined greyish white; chin 

 and throat white, the feathers of the latter tipped with brown, otherwise 

 as in the summer plumage, the colour of the mantle and wings being* 

 slightly paler. 



Length. — 17'5 to IBS inches, wing 13'25 to lo'7, tarsus 2 to 2-1, 

 bill at front I'S to 2-0. 



Hah. — Sind, Mekran Coast, Persian Gulf, from the Red Sea to Aden, 

 Kutch, Guzerat, Concan (at Bombay). 



Larus brunneicephalus, Jerdon, Madras Jo urn. xii. ip. 226; id. 

 Birds hid. iii. p. 832; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 480; Sir. F. L 

 278; iv. 203; vi. 291; Murray, Hdblc, Zool, c^-c, Sind, p. 247.— 

 The Beown-headed Gull. 



Slimmer Plumage. — Entire head and neck sooty brown, darker where 

 it terminates ; orbital feathers white posteriorly ; back and wings light 

 grey; nape, hind neck, upper tail-coverts and tail, also the under parts 

 white ; first primary black ; inner web white at the base and with a white 

 subterminal band, the second has both webs white at the base and a 

 smaller terminal spot, the third is grey, with still less black and no 

 white, and so on, lessening to the seventh ; the other quills are grev ; 

 bill and feet red, the bill darkish at the tip ; irides white. — [Jerd.) 



Length. — 15"8 to 16'5 inches, wing 11*5 to 13"0, tail 4*5 to 5"5. 



In winter, the head, neck all round, entire lower parts and upper tail- 

 coverts, also the edge of the wing are white ; tail white with a black 

 band, narrowly edged with white terminally ; a dark spot before and 

 behind the eye ; quills black, white at their bases, and except the first 

 two, all tipped with white ; secondaries dark brown, tipped with white ; 

 tertials and upper plumage as in the summer. 



Hah. — Sind, along the coast and inland, Meki-an Coast, Persian 

 Gulf, Bengal, Kutch, Guzerat and the Deccan. Occurs also in Burma 

 and Ceylon. 



