GELOCHELIDON. LARIN^E. 237 



connected by anteriorly concave webs ; claws a little arched, 

 compressed, very slender. Plumage soft, close, blended, 

 very short on the fore-part of the head ; wings very long, 

 narrow, and pointed ; tail of moderate length, forked, of 

 twelve feathers. 



297. GELOCHELIDON PALUSTRIS. MARSH GULL-TERN. 



Bill and feet black, hind claw straight. In winter, the 

 forehead and top of the head white_, a black crescent before 

 the eyes, and a black spot behind them. In summer, the 

 forehead, top of the head, occiput, and nape, deep greenish- 

 black. Sides of the head, fore-neck, and all the lower parts 

 white ; upper parts pale greyish-blue ; edges of wings white- 

 ish ; primary quills hoary on the outer web, deep grey on the 

 inner; their shafts and those of the tail-feathers white. 

 Young with the lower parts white, the top of the head white, 

 spotted with grey and brown ; the upper parts of the body 

 and wings variegated with grey, brown, and yellowish; the 

 quills greyish -brown. 



Male, 14, 34, 12, l, 1', if, J f . 



This species is said by M. Temminck to be abundant in 

 Hungary and toward the borders of Turkey ; while Mr Audu- 

 bon has found it breeding from the mouth of the Mississippi to 

 Connecticut. It thus frequents fresh-water lakes and rivers, 

 rather than the sea-shores, and is said to feed on coleoptera, 

 libellulse, moths, and other insects, which it catches on wing. 

 A few individuals have been met with in the south of Eng- 

 land, from one of which Montagu discovered the species, ap- 

 plying to it the specific name Anglica, which/as M. Temminck 

 remarks, "n'est point d'un choix heureux." The same remark 

 applies to Sterna Cantiaca, though not in an equal degree. 



Gull- billed Tern. Marsh Tern. 



Sterna Anglica, Mont. Ornith. Diet. Suppl. Sterna Ang- 

 lica, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 744. Gelochelidon palustris, 

 Marsh Gull-Tern, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 



FAMILY L. LARIJSLE. LARINE BIRDS, 

 OR GULLS. 



The Sterninse and Larinse are connected by the genus 

 last described, and that which comes first in order in the 

 present family, of which the principal characters are the 

 following : 



