CUNEATE-TAILED GULL. 



GA VI.E. 



579 



LA.R1DM. 



RHODOSTETHIA ROSEA, Macgillivray.* 

 THE CUNEATE-TAILED GULL. 

 Larus Rossii. 



RHODOSTETHIA, Macgillivray^. Bill shoit, rather slender, the upper mandible 

 decurved towards the tip, the lower mandible with the intercrural space narrow, 

 the knob slight, the dorsal line concave, and the tip narrow. Wings long, pointed, 

 the first quill-feather the longest. Tail cuneate, the central feathers much longer 

 than the lateral ones ; legs rather short, the tibia bare for a short distance ; 

 tarsus anteriorly scutellate, rough posteriorly ; hind toe very distinct, with a large 

 curved claw ; the three anterior toes entirely webbed ; claws rather large, and 

 curved. 



FOR the statement of the occurrence of this very rare 

 Gull in Yorkshire, and its consequent admission in a 

 History of British Birds, we- are indebted to Mr. Charles- 

 worth, who states (Pr. Yorks. Phil. Soc. i. p. 33, 1847) that 



* Larus roseus, Macgillivray, Mem. Wern. Soc. v. pt. i. p. 249 (1824) ; de- 

 scription of one of the two specimens obtained on Melville Peninsula, 

 t Manual of British Ornithology, Pt. ii. p. 252 (1842). 



