Class II. WAGEL GULL. 183 



long. The whole plumage of the head and 

 body, above and below, is a mixture of white, 

 ash color, and brown ; the last color occupies 

 the middle of each feather, and in some birds is 

 pale, in others dark ; the quil feathers are black ; 

 the lower part of the tail is mottled with black 

 and white ; towards the end is a brown black 

 bar, and the tips are white ; the legs are of a 

 dirty white. 



Some have supposed this to be the young of 

 the preceding species, which (as well as the 

 rest of the gull tribe) scarcely ever attains its 

 true colors till after the first year ; but it must 

 be observed,* that the first colors of the irides, 

 of the quil feathers, and of the tail, are in all 

 birds permanent ; these, as we have remarked, 

 differ in each of these gulls so greatly, as ever 

 to preserve unerring notes of distinction. 



This species is likewise called by some the 

 Dung Hunter ; for the same reason as the last 

 is styled so. 



* Mr. Pemiant afterwards altered his opinion, and in the 

 Arctic Zoology, describes the Wagel as only the young of the 

 Herring Gull. The Greater Black backed Gull in its imma- 

 ture state of plumage assumes the same mottled appearance, and 

 is often confounded with it. Ed. 



