SABINE'S GULL 



GA V 



573 



LA RID A. 



XEMA SABINII (J. Sabine*). 



SABINE'S GULL. 



Larus Sabinl. 



XEMA, Leach-\: Bill rather shorter than the head, moderately stout, the 

 upper mandible decurved from beyond the nostrils to the tip, the gonys angu- 

 lated and advancing upwards ; nostrils basal, lateral, linear. Legs moderately 

 long ; the lower part of the tibiae bare for some distance ; tarsi tolerably strong ; 

 three toes in front entirely palmated, bind toe small, elevated. Wings long, the 

 first quill-feather the longest. Tail distinctly 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 

 Gulls ; and the Gull here first inserted, by its forked tail, 

 exhibits one point of resemblance to the greater number 



* Larus Sabini, Joseph Sabinc, Trans. Linn. Soc. xii. p. 520, pi. xxix. (1818). 



f XEMA, Leaoh ; J. Ross, in Ross's Voy. App. ii. p. Ivii. (1819). The genus 

 has been improperly made, by others, to include the small hooded species, and 

 also some of those without hoods. 



