SABINE'S GULL. 



GA me. 



573 

 LARID.fi. 



Xema sabinii (J. Sabine*). 



SABINE'S GULL. 



Larus Sabini. 



Xema, Leachf. — Bill rather shorter than the head, moderately stout, the 

 upper mandible decurved from beyond the nostrils to the tip, the gonys angu- 

 lated and advancing upwards ; nostrils basal, lateral, linear. Legs moderately 

 long; the lower part of the tibite bare for some distance; tarsi tolerably strong ; 

 three toes in front entirely palniated, hind toe small, elevated. Wings long, the 

 first quill-feather the longest. Tail distinctly forhed. 



The prominent angle at the symphisis of the under man- 

 dible ; the extent of the palmated membrane between the 

 toes, and the almost square tail observed, more or less, in 

 some of the Terns, indicate a degree of connection with the 

 Gulls ; and the Gull here first inserted, by its forked tail, 

 exhibits one point of resemblance to the greater number 



* Larus Sabini, Joseph Sabine, Trans. Linn. Soc. xii. p. 520, pi. xxix (1818). 



t Xema, Leanh ; J. Ross, in Ross's Voy. App. ii. p. Ivii. (1819). The genus 

 has been improperly made, by others, to include the small hooded species, and 

 also some of those without hoods. 



