460 NATATORES. 
spotted with blackish-grey. Upper plumage of nearly 
a uniform clove-brown, the triangular spots upon the 
tips of the feathers becoming less distinct, or entirely 
disappearmg. Under plumage becoming whiter. 
Third year, ‘The white increasing over all the body. The long scapu- 
lars and tertials remaining black, or spotted with black- 
ish-grey. The head beginning to acquire the sienna- 
yellow tinge. 
The plumage of the fourth year is described above as the 
adult Bird. 
FAMILY V.—LARID~. 
Tue Laride, which form the fifth family of the Order, 
and thus complete the circle of the Natatores, are dis- 
tinguished from the preceding division by the form of the feet, 
which are never syndactyle, that is, with all the four toes 
connected by a continuous membrane. The hind toe, in such 
species as have one, is free and articulated on the back part 
of the tarsus ; but in sqme it is either totally wanting or re- 
presented by a nail or short claw. The wings of all the 
members of this family are of great length, and they conse- 
quently possess a power of long-continued flight, surpassed 
perhaps by none of the feathered race. In them the bill is 
either strait and pointed, as that of the Terns (genus Sterna), 
or with a hooked tip, as in the gulls (genus Larus), Petrels 
(G. procellaria), and other nearly allied genera. Most of 
them subsist upon fish, and other marine matter, either in a 
living state, or when cast ashore, or floating upon the sur- 
face of the sea. Some are, however, in the habit of daily 
frequenting the interior of the country, and feeding upon 
earth-worms, slugs, insects, and other animal matter. ‘They 
are all birds of rapid digestion, and consequently of vora- 
cious appetite. Many species are accustomed to repose upon 
the water, where, from the bulk and closeness of their plum- 
