NATATORES-LARID^E-LARUS. 
309 
Description. Bill straight, compressed, 1’4 measured from above, O'7 from the anterior 
part of the nostrils, and O’5 deep at the mental angle. 
Color. Bill yellow at the tip; then blackish to the nostrils; beyond which, on the upper 
mandible, it is dark yellowish; on the lower, dark green. Mantle, secondaries, back and 
inner webs of the quills towards the base, pearl or bluish grey; the black on the quills 
becoming a mere bar on the fifth. The white spot on the first quill 0'5 long; on the second 
smaller, and confined to the inner web alone : the first five tipped with white ; the succeeding 
ones slate-blue, fading into white at the tips. Legs dark greenish or bluish. Length, 18’5. 
The Brown Winter Gull, of which we have five specimens before us, presents the 
following: Summit and sides of the head white, streaked with brown. Mantle pearl-grev, 
varying in intensity and extent. Quills black, slightly tipped with white : secondaries pearl- 
grey on their outer webs, passing into brown, and tipped with white. Above rusty brown; 
the feathers tipped and margined with whitish. Rump white with irregular brown spots; 
beneath brown and white, the white apparently enlarging with age. Under tail-coverts white, 
with 4-6 angular brownish bars, tipped with white, and becoming obsolete with age. Axil- 
laries white, faintly bordered with brown. Tail white, with a broad black subterminal band, 
tipped with white. Lateral tail-feathers white for two-thirds of their length, sprinked with 
dusky on their outer webs ; and in some specimens, this color appears to be more intense 
with age on the outer edge of the web. Occasionally a white spot on the band of the outer 
web (sometimes on both) of the outer tail-feathers. Bill yellowish at the base, dark colored 
beyond; and in the most aged, yellow at the extreme tip. Feet yellowish. Length, 
15’0- 18’0. 
In another specimen (Plate 128, fig. 282), obtained in March, which I was for a long time 
disposed to regard as the fuscus of Temminck, the bill and legs are yellow; the former with 
a dark subterminal band. Head and beneath the eyes with abbreviated streaks of brown. 
Mantle pearl-grey; the feathers beneath with a large dark brown spot towards the tip, bor¬ 
dered with white. Coverts brown, margined with white and yellowish. Three first quills 
totally black above, passing into blackish brown at the tips; the shafts white beneath; the 
inner webs of the succeeding quills lighter: faint traces of white on the tips of all the quills. 
Rump and tail-coverts with brown arrowheaded marks. A black band 1 ’ 7 broad on the end 
of the tail, which is slightly tipped with white; the lateral feathers greyish sprinkled with 
brown, and the outer has in addition a white spot on the outer web near the tip. Beneath 
white, sparsely spotted and barred on the sides with brown. Axillaries white, faintly edged 
with brown. Length, 18’5. 
Length of the species, 18’0 — 20’0. 
The changes of plumage in the quills with age and season, render it exceedingly difficult 
to identify species ; and we have probably much to learn yet, before our knowledge shall be 
complete on this subject. The common gull above described, although called the Ring¬ 
billed Gull in the books, has received no other popular name than Brown Winter Gull; 
although, as we have seen above, the adult has a white plumage. This would lead us to 
infer that the young, or at least the immature birds, are most numerous. The ring on the 
