172 BLACK BACKED GULL. Class IL 



GENUS XX. GULL. 



Bill strong, strait, bending near the end; an 

 angular prominency on the lower man- 

 dible. 



Nostrils linear. 



Tongue a little cloven. 



Body light, wings large. 



Leg and back toe small, naked above knee. 



1. Black Larus marinus. L. albus, dor- Larus marlnus. G^n.Lin.SQS. 



BACKED. SQ nigro. Lath. Ind. orn. Faun. Suec. sp.\b5. 



813. id. Syn. vi. 371. Danis Blaae maage, Norvegis 



Wil. orn. 344. Svartbag, Havmaase. Brun- 



Rail Syn. av. 127- nich, 145. 



Le Goiland noir. Brisson av. Br. Zool. 140. L. Arct. Zool. 



vi. 158. Hist, d'ois. viii. ii. 242. 

 405. PL Enl. 990. 





Descrip- XHE weight of this species is nearly five 



TION. ^ . . 



pounds; the length twenty-nine inches; the 

 ' ' breadth five feet nine. The bill is very strong, 



thick, and almost four inches long; the co- 

 lor a pale yellow, but the lower mandible is 

 marked with a red spot, with a black one in the 

 middle. The irides are yellow ; the edges of the 

 eye-lids orange color ; the head, neck, whole 



