SABINE'S GULL. 537 



NATATORES. LARID^E. 



' ^s&b 



SABINE'S GULL. 

 Larus Sabini. 



Larus Sabini, Saline's Gull, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 270. 

 Xema Xeme, EYTON, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 64. 



Gull, GOULD, Birds of Europe, pt. xxi. 



Larus Sabinei, Mouette de Sabhte, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. iv. p. 488. 



LARUS. Generic Characters. Bill of moderate length, strong, hard, compressed , 

 cutting, slightly curved towards the point, lower mandible shorter than the upper, 

 the symphisis angular, prominent. Nostrils lateral, near the middle of the beak, 

 pierced longitudinally, pervious. Legs slender, lower part of the tibiae naked, 

 the tarsus long, three toes in front entirely palmated, the hind toe free, short, 

 articulated high up on the tarsus above the line of the other toes. Wings long, 

 the first quill-feather nearly as long as the second, which is the longest in the 

 wing. Tail square at the end or slightly forked. 



THE prominent angle at the symphisis of the under man- 

 dible ; the extent of the palmated membrane between the 

 toes, and the almost square tail observed, more or less, in 

 some of the Terns indicate a degree of connection with the 



