THE BRO"\VN-UEADED, OR MASKED GULL. 



335 



small and partially immature individuals (females chiefly) of L. ridi- 

 bundiis, that have borne this name ;* — and whether, as this species, 

 Like other gulls,f differs a good deal in size, L. capisiratus should 

 not be reduced to a synonym of X. ridibundus, as L. argentatoides 

 has been to L. argentatus. I have critically examined a number of 

 specimens at various seasons, and found them to diifer much in the 

 relative proportions of parts ; thus, in an adult bird, only fourteen 

 inches in length, shot on the 31st of January, 1835, the tarsi, &c., 

 examined when fresh, were :, — 



Length (total) 



„ of bill above 



„ „ to rictii3 



„ of wing from carpus 



„ of wings beyond tail 



„ of tarsus 



„ of middle toe and nail 



„ of outer „ „ 



„ of inner „ „ 



„ of hind „ „ 



Tibia bai'e of feathers for 



This bird is mature : the black head is beginning to appear. Prom the upper 

 portion of each black ear-sfot across the nape, there is a rather faint show of black. 

 Legs and biU of a colom* intermediate between "tile-red" and "scarlet-red" of 

 Syme. 



Two adult birds previously noted — killed in Belfast Bay, on De- 

 cember 6th, 1833 — and measured before being skinned, were 

 respectively, in length, 14 and 14^ inches; irides hazel; tarsi and 

 toes of a duU coral-red ; webs of feet chocolate-brown ; bill for rather 

 more than the half from base dull coral-red, remainder (to the point) 

 blackish : these birds being purchased by me and preserved, other 

 characters not liable to change were left for future observation. To be 

 more precise. — 



First, as to size. — The following are the dimensions of an adult 



* A specimen killed in Belfast Bay on the 22nd of August, 1844, exhibited the 

 characters of the two species. It was an adult bird with ])ure white tail, and in the 

 plumage of L. ridibundus ; but its tarsi aud toes were brownish-red in colour, as 

 those of L. capistratus are described to be, instead of the arterial blood-red of the 

 other: the first two quills were not fully grown. Its length was 15 inches ; bill 

 from forehead to point, 14^ lines ; tarsus, 20 lines ; middle toe aud nail, 18 lines. 



t Sec, under L. arr/entatus, my remarks on L. argentatoides. 



in. 



lin. 



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3 



2 







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9 



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6 



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