COMMON GULL. 87 



Male; weight, about one pound; length, between one foot 

 five and one foot six inches and a half; bill, pale yellow towards 

 the tip, tinged with bluish or greyish green near the base; 

 iris, dark brown, the edges of the eyelids are red. Head, crown , 

 neck, and nape, white, in winter streaked with brown; chin, 

 throat, and breast, white; back, fine pale bluish grey. 



The wings are three feet in extent; of the primaries the 

 first two are black, with a pretty large white spot near the 

 tips; the next four tipped with black. The following is Mr. 

 YarrelPs description of them: 'primaries, black on the outer 

 web, with a small portion of pearl grey at the base of the 

 inner web, the proportion of grey increasing on each primary 

 in succession; the first and second primaries with a patch of 

 white on both webs near the end, but the extreme tips of 

 both are black; the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, have white 

 tips.' Secondaries and tertiaries, grey, largely tipped with 

 white; greater and lesser under wing coverts, white. Tail, 

 white; upper tail coverts, white. Legs and toes, dull greenish 

 grey, with a tinge of dull yellowish red. 



The female is rather less in size; length, about one foot 

 four and a half to one foot five inches. 



In the young bird for the first year the bill is blackish 

 brown at the tip, the base dull yellowish red brown; iris, 

 dusky brown, in front of the eyes is a patch of deep brown; 

 the eyelids yellowish brown. Head on the sides, crown, and 

 back, streaked with dusky greyish brown spots, the white 

 through giving the bird a sort of 'bien poudre' appearance; 

 in the second year the head and neck become white in spring 

 and summer, but in the autumn and winter are streaked and 

 spotted with greyish brown. Chin and throat, white; breast, 

 greyish white marked or mottled with pale brown, chiefly 

 in the -form of a band across the upper part of the breast, 

 and continued over the sides and flanks the first year, more 

 white the second. Back on the upper part, in the first year, 

 brownish grey, each feather being edged with greyish white; 

 on the lower, white, bluish grey feathers gradually become 

 interspersed. 



The wings, when closed, reach two inches and a half beyond 

 the end of the tail; greater wing coverts, bluish grey, with 

 a brownish grey bar, and ended with dull white; lesser wing 

 coverts, bluish grey, some of the feathers with dusky centres 

 and yellowish brown and white edges. Primaries, blackish 

 grey on both the shafts and the greater part of the webs, 



