NATATORES — LARID^E '■ — LARUS. 309 



Description. Bill straight, compressed, 1*4 measured from above, 0'7 from the anterior 

 part of the nostrils, and - 5 deep at the mental angle. 



Color. Bill yellow at the tip ; then blackish to the nostrils ; beyond which, on the upper 

 mandible, it is dark yellowish ; on the lower, dark green. Mantle, secondaries, back and 

 inner webs of the quills towards the base, pearl or bluish grey ; the black on the quills 

 becoming a mere bar on the fifth. The white spot on the first quill 0'5 long ; on the second 

 smaller, and confined to the inner web alone : the first five tipped with white ; the succeeding 

 ones slate-blue, fading into while at the tips. Legs dark greenish or bluish. Length, 18'5. 



The Brown Winter Gull, of which we have five specimens before us, presents the 

 following : Summit and sides of the head white, streaked with brown. Mantle pearl-grey, 

 varying in intensity and extent. Quills black, slightly tipped with white : secondaries pearl- 

 grey on their outer webs, passing into brown, and tipped with white. Above rusty brown ; 

 the feathers tipped and margined with whitish. Rump white with irregular brown spots ; 

 beneath brown and white, the white apparently enlarging with age. Under tail-coverts white, 

 with 4-6 angular brownish bars, tipped with white, and becoming obsolete with age. Axil- 

 laries white, faintly bordered with brown. Tail white, with a broad black subterminal band, 

 tipped with white. Lateral tail-feathers white for two-thirds of their length, sprinked with 

 dusky on their outer webs ; and in some specimens, this color appears to be more intense 

 with age on the outer edge of the web. Occasionally a white spot on the band of the outer 

 web (sometimes on both) of the outer tail-feathers. Bill yellowish at the base, dark colored 

 beyond ; and in the most aged, yellow at the extreme tip. Feet yellowish. Length, 

 15-0-18-0. 



In another specimen (Plate 128, fig. 282), obtained in March, which I was for a long time 

 disposed to regard as the fuscus of Temminck, the bill and legs are yellow ; the former with 

 a dark subterminal band. Head and beneath the eyes with abbreviated streaks of brown. 

 Mantle pearl-grey ; the feathers beneath with a large dark brown spot towards the tip, bor- 

 dered with white. Coverts brown, margined with white and yellowish. Three first quills 

 totally black above, passing into blackish brown at the tips ; the shafts white beneath ; the 

 inner webs of the succeeding quills lighter : faint traces of white on the tips of all the quills. 

 Rump and tail-coverts with brown arrowheaded marks. A black band 1'7 broad on the end 

 of the tail, which is slightly tipped with white ; the lateral feathers greyish sprinkled with 

 brown, and the outer has in addition a white spot on the outer web near the tip. Beneath 

 white, sparsely spotted and barred on the sides with brown. Axillaries white, faintly edged 

 with brown. Length, 18*5. 



Length of the species, 1 8 • - 20 • 0. 



The changes of plumage in the quills with age and season, render it exceedingly difficult 

 to identify species ; and we have probably much to learn yet, before our knowledge shall be 

 complete on this subject. The common gull above described, although called the Ring- 

 billed Gull in the books, has received no other popular name than Brown Winter Gull; 

 although, as we have seen above, the adult has a white plumage. This would lead us to 

 infer that the young, or at least the immature birds, are most numerous. The ring on the 



