LAlilDiE — THE GULLS AND TERNS — LARDS. 



225 



Lams marinus. 



THE BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



Larus marimia, Linn. S. N. cd. 10, i. 1758,136 ; cd. 12, 1. 1700, 225. — Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 308.— 

 Auu. Oru. Biog. IlL 1835, 305 ; V. 1839, 030, pi. 2il ; Syiiop. 1839, 329 ; B. Am. VII. 1814, 172, 

 1)1. 450. — Lawu. iu Baiids H. N. Am. 1858, 844. — Baikd, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. CCO. — 

 CoUES, Key, 1872, 312 ; Check List, 1873, no. 546; 2d ed. 1882, no. 771; B. N. W. 1874, 024. — 

 III now. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 663. 



Larus niijcr, Br.is.s. Oin.VI. 1760, 158. 



Larus navius, Linn. S. N. L 1766, 225. 



Larus maculatus, Bonn. Tabl. P. E. 1783, 16 (nee BuiJNN. 1764). 



Larus maximus, Leacii, Cat. 1816, 40. 



Larus MaUrri, Bueiim, Viig. Deutschl. 1831, 729, 



Larus Fabricii, Bueu.m, t. c. 730. 



ILvB. Coasts of the North Atlantic ; in America, south in winter to Long Island and the Great 

 Lakes ? 



Sr. Char. Size very large (about equal to L. glaucus). Adult, summer plumnye : Mantle dark 

 bruwnisli slate, the secondaries and tertials broadly (the former aljruptly) tipped with white ; first 

 primary black, with the end for a distance of about 2.50 inches, white ; .second similar, but the white 

 tip marked near the end by a broad black bar on one or both webs ; fourth <iuill black, tipped with 

 white ; fifth and sixth quills more slaty, tipped with white, and with a wiile black subterniinal 

 space, preceded by an irregu- 

 lar white bar; shorter quills 

 li^'liter slate, widely tipped 

 with white. Rest of the plu- 

 mage pure white. " Bill gani- 

 bii^'e-yellow, the lower mandi- 

 ble bright carmine towartl the 

 end ; edges of eyelids bright 

 carmine ; iris silvery ; feet 

 yellow ;^ claws black "(AuDtJ- 

 uon). Adult, in vinter : Sim- 

 ilar to the summer plumage, 

 but head and neck, superiorly 

 and posteriorly, streaked with 

 dusky, YouHij, first ])lumage: 

 Above, dark slate-brown, the 

 featlu'rs broadly bordered with 

 pale (lull buff ; remiges uni- 

 form brownish dusky, with 

 narrow whitish tips ; rectrices 

 dusky, tii)ped with white and 

 crossed near the end by a nar- 

 row baud of grayish or brown- 

 ish wiiite. Head, neck, and lower parts dirty white, the head and neck, superiorly and posteriorly, 

 streaked, and the Literal lower parts clouded or irregularly s|)otted, with grayish bmwn. Dill 

 dusky, black terminally and brownish at the base ; iris dark brown ; legs and feet "dusky whit- 

 ish" (CouES, MS.). Downy young: Prevailing color gmyish white, the uj^per parts marbled or 

 irregularly spotted with dull grayish. Head marked with numerous irregular spots of dull black, 

 somewhat as follows : forehead with a narrow mesial streak ; crown with two spots, one behind the 



' Other authorities give the color of the feet as flesh-color ; and it seems that Audubon made a mistake 

 in calling them yellow. Mncgillivray describes the fresh colors of tlie adult male in winter as follows : 

 "The bill is light yellow, the lower mandible with an orange-red patch near the end; the edges of the 

 eyelids omnge-red, the iris pale yellow ; the feet flesh-colored, the claws dusky." 

 vol,. II 29 



