556 LARIDjE. 



of the preceding year. Their stomachs were filled with 

 coleopterous insects, which they caught on the wing, or 

 picked up from the water. On the 24th of August, 1831, 

 when at Eastport with my family, I shot ten of these. 

 Gulls. The adult birds had already lost their dark hood, 

 and the young were in fine plumage. In the stomachs of 

 all were shrimps, very small fishes, and fat substances. 

 The old birds were still in pairs. None were observed 

 on any part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or on the coast 

 of Labrador or Newfoundland. In winter this species is 

 common in the harbour of Charleston, but none are seen 

 at that season near the mouths of the Mississippi." 



The flight of this Gull is light, elevated, and rapid, 

 resembling in buoyancy that of some of our Terns more 

 than that of most of our Gulls, which move their wings 

 more sedately. Their notes are different from those of 

 all our other species, being shriller and more frequent. 



An adult male killed at Great Slave Lake at the end of 

 May, 1826, is thus described by Sir John Richardson : 

 "Neck, tail-coverts, tail, whole under plumage and interior 

 of the wings pure white ; hood greyish-black, extending 

 half an inch over the nape, and as much lower on the 

 throat ; mantle pearl grey, this colour extending to the 

 tips of the tertiaries, secondaries, and two posterior pri- 

 maries ; the anterior border of the wing white ; the outer 

 web of the first primary, and the ends of the first six are 

 deep black, most of them slightly tipped with white ; the 

 inner web of the first primary, with the outer webs of 

 the three following ones, with their shafts, are pure white ; 

 bill shining black; inside of the mouth and the legs 

 bright carmine red; irides dark brown." 



The female is a little smaller than the male. 



The measurements vary somewhat, depending on the 

 sex and age of the specimen ; the whole length is from 



