5SS LARID.E. 



Gulls ; and the Gull here first inserted, by its slightly 

 forked tail, exhibits one point of resemblance to the 

 greater number of the Terns. Like the Terns, too, some 

 of the smaller Gulls assume during the breeding-season a 

 dark-coloured head. 



The species of the genus Larus, or the Gulls, are nu- 

 merous, and most of them have a wide geographical 

 range. They frequent the ocean, many of them living on 

 the coast, but occasionally visiting inland lakes, rivers, 

 and marshes. They are voracious feeders, living on fish 

 alive or dead, and seldom refuse any animal matter that is 

 cast ashore by the tidal waves. The young differ from the 

 adult birds in plumage, and are not allowed to associate 

 with them at the nesting place, whether it be rock or 

 marsh, during the breeding-season. The adult birds 

 undergo a partial change of colour in spring, besides the 

 regular general moult in autumn. The sexes do not 

 differ in plumage; but the males are larger than the 

 females, and this difference is so considerable in the Gulls 

 of large size as in some instances to have led to the sup- 

 position of new, or distinct species. 



We are indebted to Wm. Thompson, Esq. of Belfast, 

 for the first notice of Sabine's Gull as an addition to the 

 British Fauna, and also for a description of the plumage of 

 the young bird in its first autumn dress, which had not 

 previously come under the inspection of the ornithologist. 

 The first specimen was shot in Belfast Bay, in September, 

 1822, and was presented to the Natural History Society 

 of Belfast for the museum, in 1833. In the Museum of 

 the Royal Dublin Society, Mr. Thompson has also pointed 

 out a second example of this Gull, which is also in the 

 plumage of the first autumn. This bird was shot in 

 Dublin Bay by Mr. Wall, the curator. In October, 1837, 



