575 

 SABINE'S GULL. 



LARUS SABINI. 



Head and neck dark grey, terminating in a narrow black collar ; lower part of 

 the neck, all the under parts, and tail, white ; upper plumage grey ; wings 

 black and white, longer than the tail ; bill yellow, black at the base ; irides 

 dark ; orbits vermilion ; feet black. Young birds and adult specimens in 

 winter want the dark head. Length thirteen inches. Eggs olive, blotched 

 with brown. 



THIS bird takes its name from Captain Sabine, who ac- 

 companied the Arctic expedition of 1818, and observed 

 considerable numbers of this species of Gull associating 

 with Arctic Terns on a group of rocky islands on the 

 west coast of Greenland. A very few specimens have 

 since been shot on the shores of the British Isles, all in 

 autumn ; from which it may be inferred that this bird 

 travels southward to spend its winter. It lays its eggs, 

 three in number, on the bare rock ; and feeds on marine 

 insects cast on shore. 



THE LITTLE GULL. 



LARUS MINUTUS. 



Summer Head and neck black ; lower part of the neck, tail, all the under 

 plumage, white ; upper plumage pale ash-grey ; primaries white at the end ; 

 bill reddish brown ; irides dark ; legs vermilion. Winter Forehead, front 

 and sides of the neck white ; nape and cheeks white, streaked with greyish 

 black. Length rather more than eleven inches. 



THIS, the smallest of the Gulls, is a rare visitor to the 

 British coast, and is nowhere known to be abundant. It 

 is said to be remarkably active and graceful in its move- 

 ments through the air, and to associate with Terns. Its 

 food consists of marine insects and small fish. Its breed- 

 ing place and eggs are unknown. 



