398 POMARINE JAGER. 



I.ESTEis POMAHINUS, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. part ii. p. 793. 



Lestris pomarina, PoMARiNE Jager, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of the 



United States, p. 364. — Swains, and Richards, Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 429. 

 PoMARiNE Jager, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 315. 



Adult Female. Plate CCLIII. 



Bill shorter than the head, strong, slightly compressed, straight, the 

 tip curved. Upper mandible with the dorsal line nearly straight, to- 

 ward the tip curved, the ridge broad and convex with a slight central de- 

 pression, the sides convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip compres- 

 sed, rather rounded but sharp. Nasal groove long, narrow, curved ; 

 nostrils in its fore part, medial, lateral, longitudinal, broad before, ex- 

 tremely narrow behind, open and pervious. Lower mandible with the 

 angle long and narrow, a slight prominence at its extremity, beyond 

 which the dorsal line is slightly concave, the sides erect, and shghtly 

 convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip obliquely truncate. 



Head rather large. Neck of moderate length. Body rather full. 

 Feet of moderate length, rather slender ; tibia bare at its lower part, and 

 rough all round with small convex scales ; tarsus compressed behind, an- 

 teriorly covered with decurved scutella, the sides reticulated, the hind 

 part rough with small pointed scales ; hind toe extremely small and ele- 

 vated, the fore toes of moderate size, connected by reticulated webs, which 

 have their margins convex ; the third toe longest, the fourth nearly as long, 

 all scutellate above. Claws strong, curved, very acute, compressed, that 

 of third toe with a sharp inner edge. 



The plumage in general is close, elastic, soft and blended ; the fea- 

 thers on the back and wings rather compact and distinct. Wings very 

 long, rather broad, pointed ; primary quills tapering and rounded, the 

 first longest, the rest rapidly graduated ; secondary rather short, rounded. 

 Tail of moderate length, the feathers, which are twelve, are broad and 

 rounded, the two middle an inch longer than the next. 



Bill blackish-brown at the end, dingy yellow towards the base. Iris 

 brown. Tibia, toes,'webs, and lower half of tarsus black, the upper half 

 light blue ; claws black. Upper part and sides of the head anteriorly 

 brownish-black ; upper part of neck all round yellowish-white ; the rest 

 of the neck white, barred with brownish-black, each feather having two 

 transverse bands of that colour ; breast white ; sides, abdomen and lower 

 tail-coverts white, barred with brownish- black, as are tlie upper tail- 



