FAMILY LARIDJE 



buff; a small patch of white on wings; remaining 

 under parts grayish buffy coarsely and irregu- 

 larly mottled with brown; chin and sides of 

 face buffy, a conspicuous black streak through 

 the eye and another from the bill through the 

 cheeks to behind the ear coverts. 



Young. Similar to female, the breast and 

 abdomen paler and less distinctly marked. 



A shy and retiring duck, living in dense vege- 

 tation like a rail, and rarely flying, preferring to 

 hide or dive. It is found in the wilder parts of 

 Lake Gatun. 



^ 



20. Family LARID^E 



The Gulls and Terns 



The members of this large family of web- 

 footed, short-legged, long-winged sea birds 

 are found on the coasts and larger inland 

 waters of every continent from the polar re- 

 gions to the tropics, and cannot fail to attract 

 attention by their graceful flight and usually 

 pure white plumage, relieved by an area of 

 delicate gray on the back and wings which is 

 termed the mantle. They remain as a rule 

 near the coasts, few of them wandering very 

 far out to sea as the petrels do, and their 

 nostrils are simple slits, not tubular as in the 

 latter birds. 



The terns are birds of rather slender build 



with very pointed wings and usually a long, 



deeply-forked tail. They are exceptionally 



graceful in flight and obtain their food (chiefly 



100 



