XEMA JAMESONI. 



(Jameson's Gull.) 



Head, neck, under surface, and tail, pure white ; back and wings, light grey ; spurious wing, white ; primaries, black, with patches of white ; 

 the basal portions of all but the two outer feathers, grey ; bill, legs, and eyelids, bright red ; irides, white. The sexes are much alike, but the 

 female is the smallest. The young birds are more or less mottled with brown, especially on the back and wings ; the tail is also tipped with 

 the same color. 



Length, 17| inches ; wing, 13 ; tail, 5 ; bill. If ; tarsus, 2. 



This fine species is found from Queensland round the eastern and southern coasts; has been met with at Cooper's Creek, in the 

 far interior ; and is very common about Sydney at times, especially in dull weather, frequenting the paddocks, at no great distance from the 

 city, in great numbers. It is a beautiful and graceful bird, and frequently abundant in certain localities, such as Groose Island, in Bass' 

 Straits. Its flight is easy and buoyant, like that of the gull tribe in general. It breeds on the low islands of Bass' Straits, great numbers 

 incubating in company. The nest is formed of rushes and grasses. The eggs, four or five in number, are variable both in color and shape, 

 no two being alike; they are either greenish or olive brown, more or less streaked and blotched with blackish brown. 



