16-2 AVES. 



LARUS, Linnams. 



The Gulls have a com pressed , elongated, pointed bill, the superior mandible 

 arcuated near the end, and the inferior forming a salient 

 angle beneath. . The nostrils, placed near its middle, are 

 long, narrow, and bored quite through ; their tail is full, 

 their legs tolerably long, and their thumb short. They 

 are cowardly and voracious birds, which swarm along the sea coasts, feeding on 

 fish, the flesh of dead bodies, &c. They breed in the sand, or in clefts of rock, 

 laying but few eggs. When they fly into the country, bad weather may be 

 expected. They have been divided into GOELANDS, which embraces the Great 

 Black-Backed Gull, JMT. marinus and L. glaucus, and Mauves or Mouettes, 

 which embraces the smaller species. 



Lar. cyanorhynchus, Meyer. (The Common Gull.) When old, of a 

 beautiful white, with a light ash-coloured mantle; the primary quills of the 

 wing partly black, with white spots at their tips, the feet and bill lead-coloured. 

 Feeds on shell fish. 



LESTRIS, Illiger. 



These birds have very properly been separated from the common Gulls. 

 Their membranous nostrils, larger than those of the latter, open nearer to the 

 point and edge of the beak, and their tail pointed. They pursue the small 

 gulls with singular ferocity to rob them of their food, and hence their name. 



STERNA, Linnaeus. 



The Terns, or Sea-Swallows, derive this latter appellation from their 

 excessively long and pointed wings, and from their 

 forked tail, which render their flight and carriage 

 analogous to those of swallows. Their bill is pointed, 

 compressed, and straight, without curve or projection ; 

 the nostrils, placed near its base, are oblong and pierced quite through ; the 

 membranes which unite their toes are deeply emarginate, consequently 

 they swim but seldom. They fly over the waves in every direction and with 

 great rapidity, uttering loud cries, and skilfully raising from the surface of the 

 water the mollusca and small fish on which they feed. They also penetrate to 

 the lakes and rivers of the interior. There are several species. 

 We may also distinguish from the other Terns, 



THE NODDIES, 



Whose tail is not forked, and is nearly as long as the wings. There is a slight 

 projection under their bill, the first indication of that in the mauves. But one 

 species is known, 



St. stolida, Lin. (The Noddy), which is a blackish brown, top of the head 

 whitish. Celebrated for the blundering manner in which it throws itself on 



