21 8 Brewster on an apparently New Gull. [October 



height at nostril, .56; do. at angle, .60; tai-sus, 2.10; middle toe and 

 claw, 3.15; tail, 6.90. 



Adult, sex? Bay of Fundj. Wing, 16.00; ciilmen, 1.88; bill from 

 nostril, .88; gape, 2.75; height at nostril, .66; do. at angle, 66 ; tarsus, 

 2.25; middle toe and claw, 2.30; tail, 6.50. 



The chief characters which distinguish L. kitmlieni from L. 

 glaucescens are as follows : Smaller size; a lighter mantle; and 

 very different color and pattern of the primaries. The pri- 

 maries oi glaucescens ?ire essentially concolor with the mantle, 

 and this coloring — uniform nearly to the tips of the feathers, 

 where it changes abruptly into white — gives the folded wing a 

 generally dark appearance relieved only by the rounded white 

 apical spots which are conspicuous on all the feathers. In kzi?n- 

 licni, on the contrary', the general effect of the wing is white, the 

 pale pearly-blue of the mantle, although present on some of the 

 feathers, being mostly concealed, and the "pattern" produced by 

 markings many shades darker than any color found elsewhere on 

 the bird ; while, owing to the general extension of white, there 

 are usually only two or three primaries which have well-defined 

 apical spots.* 



These characteristics are pretty uniformly maintained among 

 the foiu- specimens before me, but there is some individual as well 

 as seasonal variation. Thus Mr. Merrill's bird differs from the 

 type in having a more decided approach to a sub-terminal bar on 

 the second primary, where a transverse spot of gray on the inner 

 web is continued across to the shaft but fails to connect with a 

 smaller corresponding spot on the edge of the outer web. It 

 also has a dusk}' spot in front of the eye and some obscvu'e 

 mottling on the crown and nape — probably seasonal (winter) 

 characteristics. 



Mr. Smith's specimen is evidently immature. Its entire head 

 and neck, and even the breast, are mottled with dusky, and the 

 bill is greenish at the base. The mantle, however, is perfectly 

 pure and the wings show no traces of immaturity. The bill is 

 much weaker and more depressed than in the other examjoles. 

 The pattern of the primaries is essentially the same, but there 

 is a greater extension of the gray, especially on the first two 



* These differences, of course, will only serve to distinguish adults. 1 have not seen 

 the young of kumlienl, but Kumlien states that it is "even darker than the young of L. 

 argentatus, the primaries and tail being very iiearly black!' If this be true it can be read- 

 ily separated from young glaucescens, which is much lighter ihsxi argentattis. 



