

268 



LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS — LONGIPENNES. 



•i 



imiiiaculatc, very pale i>earl-j,'ray, fiuliiij; grailimlly into wliite teniiiiially ; wcoiidaries and two innfr 

 priniaries imre wliitc ; next two ininiuiies witli imre wliite innur wi-lw uikI Rliafe, the outer \\vhn 

 very iwle i>earl-},'ray, the first <iuill bavinj^ the inner web narrowly niar},'ine<l at eml witii Mack, 

 the next witli a wjmewbat olilong spot of bhicii near end of each wel) ; next two (^llill)i with inner 

 web lilui.-ih wliite, the outer web i)earl-grny, both very broadly tipptnl with black, and the shall 

 dusky ; next cpiill similar, but with the centml portion grayish dusky, foriuin;,' a longitudinal 

 lanceolate strii>e, divitletl medially by the Hlmlt ; three outer ijuills witli outer webs wholly black- 

 ish, and the inner web with a broad stripe of the same next the shaft ; alula), carpal regior, ami 

 primary coverts plain sooty black, the Litter narrowly tipped with pale gniyisli bulf. Lateral and 

 under sides of head aii<l neck white, with rather indistinct transvei'se bars of dusky, except on 

 chin and throat ; a dusky suffusion immediately before the eye. Lower parts, from juguluiii baik, 

 including axillars, entirely immaculate ])ure white ; lining of wing and under surface of primarii's 

 light silvery gray. IJill black, brownish basally ; " iris hazel ; legs and feet dull fleshy purple " 

 (Nkuson, M.S ). Wing, 9.55 inches ; tail, 4.00, the lateral feathers .70 shorter ; culmeii, .(io ; 

 til 1.25; middle tiK>, 1.<N). 



Ilerr J. C. H. Fisclier, in "Kri)yor'.s Natural History Journal" for 1804, records 

 the occurrpiu'o of this extremely rave Gull in the Faroe Islands. It is there spoken 

 of as the " Cnneate-tiiiled Gull." The example in this instanoe had been taken in 

 Suderoe in February, 18G3 ; it is now in a private collection in Cojienhagen. Tlie 

 "Ibis" (1865, p. 104) makes the statement that only five other examjilcs of tliis 

 8i)ecies are known to exist. One of these, obtained June, 182.'i, on ftFelville reiiiii- 

 sula, is in the Edinburgh Museum ; another, from the same place, is now in the Derbj 

 Mnsenm of Liverpool ; the third specimen, from Kamtschatka, is in the Museum at 

 Mainz ; the fourth, in a private collection in England, is said to have been killed 

 in Yorkshire ; ^nd the other, killed on the Island of Heligoland, is in the collection 

 of Herr Giitke. 



Bichardson states that two specimens were killed on the coast of Melville Teiiiii- 

 sula, during Sir Edward Parry's second voyage. Iloss, in his Zoological Appendix to 

 I'arry's narrative of his boat voyage toward the Pole, states that several individuals 

 were seen during the journey over the ice north of Sjjitzbergcn, and that Lieutenant 

 Forster also found it in Waygatsch Straits, which is presumed to be one of its breeding- 

 places. In regjird to any of its specific peculiarities of habits, or the places of its 

 retreat in the winter, no information has been obtained. 



^Ir. t'harlesworth published a paper in the first part of the first volume of tin; 

 " I'roceedings of the Yorkshire IMiilosophical Society," giving the particulars of 

 the capture of this examjile in Yorkshire. It was killed, in 1847, by a Mr. Horner, 

 in February, in a jiloiighed field near the hamlet of Milford. Its flight is said to 

 liave been similar to that of any other Gull, and the bird did not appear at all shy. 



Mr. Jlacgillivray .states, in his edition of 1842, that it has once occurred in In- 

 land ; but the statement is unsupported by evidence, and ]\Ir. Yarrell thinks tliiit 

 Ireland is wrongly printed instead of Iceland. It is not accejjted as a bird of Ire- 

 Lind either by Thompson or Walter. 



It has not l)een met with in Smith's Sound by any of the exploring expeditious. 

 Its entire absence, so far as is known, from Spitzbergen, Nova Zeuibla, Franz-tJoscf 

 Land, and Silteria, and its not having been seen by any of the Franklin search exin- 

 ditions that have entered Lancaster Sound or skirted the northern shores of America 

 from Behring's Straits, and its not having been noticed in Alaska, has led Captain 

 Fielden to conclude that it must be a bird of limited distribution, and that it prfdiably 

 has its breeding-liaunts north of Hudson's Bay. 



