310 BIRDS. PALMIPEDES. 



S. leucoptera, Tern. Bill brown ; legs coral red ; membranes of 

 the toes much gashed ; the internal rudimentary ; length of the 

 tarsus 9 lines ; tail slightly forked ; wings extending 2 inches 4 

 lines beyond its extremity. 9J inches long. Inhabits coasts of 

 Southern Europe Tern. Man. 747- 



S. nigra, Lin. Black Tern. Bill black ; legs purple brown, webs 

 gashed to the half of their length ; height of the tarsus 7 or 8 

 lines ; tail slightly forked, and the wings extending an inch and 

 a half beyond its extremity. 9 inches long. Inhabits marshes, 

 Sec. in Northern Europe. B. Sharv, xiii. pi. 19. 



S. minuta, Lin. Minute or Lesser Tern. Bill orange-coloured, 

 but black at the tip ; legs orange ; length of the tarsus 7 lines ; 

 tail much forked; forehead white. 8| inches long. Inhabits 

 Shores of Europe. Don. Brit. Birds, iv. pi. 96. 



S. stolida. Lath. Foolish Tern or Noddy. Body black ; forehead 

 whitish ; eye-brows, bill, and legs, black ; occiput cinereous. 15 

 inches long. Inhabits Brazil, &c Shaw, xiii. pi. 17- 



Gen. 5. LARUS, Lin. 



Bill long, or middle-sized, strong, hard, compressed, edged, 

 bent towards the tip ; lower mandible angulated near the 

 point ; nostrils lateral, in the middle of the bill, longitudi- 

 nally cleft, straight, and pervious ; legs slender, naked above 

 the knee ; tarsus long ; three fore-toes quite webbed, the 

 hinder free, short, placed high on the tarsus ; tail-feathers 

 of equal length ; wings long. 



The birds of this genus are diffused over every coast Flocks of them haunt the 

 sea-shore in pursuit of living or dead fish ; and such is their voracity, that hardly 

 any thing comes amiss, for they greedily feed on putrid carcasses of whales, and 

 the refuse of the tide. Like other predacious birds, they throw up pellets of fea- 

 thers, and other indigestible matters. Like most ravenous animals, they are also 

 capable of enduring protracted abstinence. The young do not attain their full plu- 

 mage till the second or third year. Gulls breed among the rocks or downs, and 

 some of the smaller species in meadows adjacent to the coast. When they flock in 

 numbers to the land, and are clamorous along the coast, or when at sea they alight 

 on ships, they are said to portend a storm. 



L. glaucus, Brun. Glaucous Gull. The Burgomaster of the Dutch. 

 Back, shoulders, and \ving-coverts, bluish cinereous ; legs livid ; 

 length of the tarsus within a line or two of three inches ; quill- 

 feathers terminated by a large white space ; shafts white ; bill 

 of a beautiful yellow, with the angle of the lower mandible bright 

 red ; orbits red ; iris yellow. 2 feet 2 inches long. Inhabits 

 Europe. B. Lenin's Brit. Birds, vi. pi. 7- 



L. marinus, Lin. Great Black-Backed Gull. Shoulders slate- 

 black ; legs white ; length of the tarsus nearly 3 inches ; fold- 

 ed wings stretching a very little beyond the tail ; quill-feathers 

 black towards the end, but tipt with white ; bill whitish yel- 

 low, the angle of the lower mandible bright red. 26 to 27 in- 

 ches long. Inhabits Europe. B. Tern. Man. 760, 



3 



