WEDGE-TAILED GULL 407 



barred with brown and dull white ; tail-feathers, white 

 banded near the tips with blackish-brown. 



BEAK. Blackish, with a yellowish tip. 



FEET. Pale brownish-grey. 



IRIDES. Dark brown. 



AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 



TOTAL LENGTH ... ... ... 13 in. 



WING ... 10-75 



BEAK ... 1*3 ,, 



TARSO-METATARSUS ... ... 1*5 ,, 



EGG ... 1'7 x 1'3 in. 



WEDGE-TAILED GULL. Rhodostethia rosea (Macgillivray). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, 'Birds of Great Britain,' vol. v, pi. 

 63 ; Dresser, 'Birds of Europe,' vol. viii, pi. 594 ; Lilford, 

 ' Coloured Figures,' vol. vi, pis. 15, 16. 



In December, 1846, or February, 1847, a specimen of 

 this Arctic Gull was said to have been shot near Tadcaster, 

 in Yorkshire. It is now preserved in the Leeds Museum 

 (Saunders). This appears to be the only British-taken 

 specimen as yet on record. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Head and neck, white, 

 with a few black feathers near the eye ; narrow black neck- 

 collar ; breast and abdomen, white, tinged in life with a 

 delicate pink ; back and wings, pale ' french ' grey ; outer 

 web of first primary, black almost to the tips ; the other 

 primaries, ' french ' grey ; secondaries, light greyish, tipped 

 with rosy-white ; tail, which is wedge-shaped, and its upper 

 coverts, delicate rosy- white. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar to the male plumage. 



Adult winter, male and female. Similar to the nuptial 

 plumage, except that the black neck-collar is absent, and 

 the rosy tints are more faintly suffused. 



Immature, male and female. Top of head and neck- 

 collar, greyish ; wing-coverts, inner secondaries, and rump, 



