Order ANSERES.J 



[Fait. LARID^. 



LAEUS BULLEEI. 



(BLACK -BILLED GULL.) 





/ 



Bruchigavia melanorhyncha^ Buller, Ibis, 1869, p. 43. 

 Lams {Bruchigavia) melanorhynchits^ Finsch, torn, cit, p. 381 

 Lams buUeriy Hutton, Cat. Birds of N. Z., 1871, p. 41. 

 Lams hdle7% Potts, Ibis, 1872, p. 38. 



Ad. supra dilutissime cinereus : pileo cum coUo postico et interscapulioj dorso postico uropygio et corpore 



subtus toto^ albis : plag& nuchali indistincta brunneft : tectricibus alarum dorso concoloribus^ exteriori- 

 bus et ala spuria pure albis : remigibus dilutissime cinereis dorso concoloribus^ apicem versus albis^ prima- 

 riis albis, pogoniis ambobus et apice pennarum plus minusve late nigro marginatis^ h^c albo terminata : 

 Cauda omnino alba : rostro nigro : pedibus nigricanti-brunneis : iride argenteo-alba. 



Juv. dorso et scapularibus obscure brunneo notatis, plumis albo terminatis subterminaliter grisescenti-brunneo 



fasciatis : tectricibus alarum medianis grisescenti-brunneis albido marginatis : secundariis intimis 

 medialiter distincte brunneo lavatis. 



Adult. General plumage pure white ; back, scapulars, and upper surface of wings delicate asb-grey ; breast 

 and sides of the body suffused with a beautiful rosy blush^ which fades after death, or entirely disap- 

 pears. The primary quills are white, eccentrically varied with blacky the first primary is narrowly 

 margined on its outer and marked diagonally on its inner web ; on the next the black increases, and 

 forms a broad subterminal bar, which enlarges on the two succeeding ones, and decreases on the fifth ; 

 the sixth is ashy, with merely a subterminal interrupted bar of black. Irides silvery white ; bill black, 

 sometimes tinged with red towards the base; legs and feet blackish brown. Total length 15 inches; 

 extent of wings 35; wing, from flexure, 11-75 ; tail 4*5; bill, along the ridge 1-5, along the edge of 

 lower mandible 3; bare tibia '75; tarsus 1*5; middle toe and claw 1*5; hind toe and claw "3. 



Young, Has the plumage of the back and the scapulars obscurely spotted with brown, each feather having 



a white tip bounded below by an irregular spot of greyish brown ; the median wing-coverts greyish 



brown with a whitish margin ; the long inner secondaries largely marked in their central portion with 

 greyish brown. 



Obs. The extent of the black markings on the primaries is very variable; and in some examples the first 

 quill is largely tipped with black. There appears to be a seasonal change in the colour of the bill and 

 legs, the former becoming dull yellow, stained at the tips with brown, and the tarsi and toes changing 

 to pale orange-red, with darker webs and black claws. 





! 



The Black-billed Gull was originally described by myself, as already cited, under the name of 

 Bmchigavia melanorliynclia \ but as the retention of Bonaparte's subdivision is considered undesi- 



