NATATORES. 385 



cetacea, and land quadrupeds, young sea-birds, Crustacea, 

 mollusks, asterise, worms, and larva3. In stormy weather 

 they often leave their ordinary haunts and proceed inland to 

 pick up the larvae and worms exposed by the plough or found 

 in the pastures. In winter they congregate in large flocks at 

 the mouths of rivers or on the sands. They rest by day 

 either on shore or floating on the water, by night on the sands 

 or rocks, or in the fields, either standing on one foot, with re- 

 tracted neck, or lying down. In the breeding-season they 

 generally keep in flocks, nestling on rocks, headlands, or 

 islands." 



Sp. 596. LARUS PACIFICUS, Lath. 



Pacific Gull. 



Larus pacificus, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. Ixviii. 



Pacific Gull, Lat, Gen. Syn. Supp,, voL ii. p. 332. 



Larus leucomelas, Vieill. 2nde edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. 



xxi. 509. 

 frontalis, Vieill. 2nde edit, du Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., torn. 



xxi. p. 505 ? 

 georgii, King, Survey of the Intertropical Coast of Australia, vol. 



ii. p. 423. 

 Gabianus georgi, Bonap. Compt. Rend, de PAcad. Sci., torn. xli. 

 Nga-ga-la, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia. 

 Larger Gull of the Colonists. 



Larus pacificus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 19. 



The Larus pacificus, which differs from every other species 

 T am acquainted with in the deepened form of the bill and in 

 the pearly whiteness of the irides, is abundantly dispersed 

 over all the shores of Tasmania, the islands in Bass's Straits, 

 and the southern parts of the Australian continent. It ascends 

 high up the larger rivers and arms of the sea, but is never, so 

 far as I am aware, seen in the interior of the country. It is 

 very powerful on the wing, often mounts high in the air, and 

 soars in circles after the manner of the Eagle ; in this particu- 



VoL. II. 2 c 



