548 



LARITX/E. 



NA TA TORES. 



LABI D 





.V- 



-~ 



SABINE'S GULL. 



Larus Sabini. 



Larus Sabini, Saline's Gull, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 270. 



Xema Xeme, EYTON, Rarer Brit. Birds, p. 84. 



M Gull, GOULD, Birds of Europe. 



Larus Sabinei, Mouette de Sabine, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. iv. p. 488. 



LARUS. Generic Cliaracters. Bill of moderate length, strong, hard, 

 compressed, cutting, slightly curved towards the point, lower mandible, 

 shorter than the upper, the symphisis angular, prominent. Nostrils lateral 

 near the middle of the beak, pierced longitudinally, pervious. Legs 

 slender, lower part of the tibiae naked, the tarsus long, three toes in front 

 entirely palmated, the hind toe free, short, articulated high up on the 

 tarsus above the line of the other toes. Wings long, the first quill- 

 feather nearly as long as the second, which is the longest in the wing. 

 Tail in form variable, but generally square at the end. 



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 slightly- 



