X PREFACE. 



The specimen is in the same plumage as those described 

 by Mr. Yarrell ; the markings on the under side of the 

 wings are very beautiful. The specimen noticed is the 

 only Irish one I am aware of." 



STELLER'S WESTERN DUCK. 8omateria dispar ; vol. iii. 

 page 305. 



George N. Cozens, Esq., of Weston Lodge, near Derby, 

 sent me word that on the 15th of August 1835, he shot 

 a Duck of this species while it was sitting on the sea just 

 off the rocks of the promontory called Filey Bridge, six or 

 seven miles south of Scarborough. The bird was alone. 

 Mr. Cozens very obligingly sent the skin for my examina- 

 tion. It proved to be that of a male, but, like some other 

 males in this family, exhibited the plumage of the fe- 

 male over the head and neck ; but the autumn moult 

 having commenced, the white feathers about the head, 

 and the black feathers on the chin and on the bottom of 

 the neck behind, which distinguish the adult male, were 

 just beginning to make their appearance, forming an in- 

 teresting state of change. 



The MASKED GULL. Larus capistratus; vol. iii. page 

 547. 



Of this bird, M. H, Schlegel, in his Critical Review of 

 the Birds of Europe, published at Leyden in 1844, has the 

 following remarks at page 113, under the name of Larus 



This Gull is only distinguished from the Laughing 



