336 LARiD.Ti:. 



veritable L. ridlbtindus, with black head, bill and legs arterial blood-red, 

 whicb I sliot in its breeding-station at Ram's Island, Lough Neagh, 

 on the 15 th June, 1833. 



iu. 



lin 



. 15 



6 



. 11 



8 



. 1 



3 



. 1 



11 



1 



7 



. 



10 



. 1 



7 



. 1 







. 



2 



. 



5 



Length (total) 



„ of carpus to end of first quill 



„ of bin above 



„ „ to rictus .... 



„ of tarsus ..... 



„ of tibia (bare portion) 



,, of middle toe and nail 



„ of inner toe mthout nail 



,, of inner toe-nail .... 



„ of hind toe and naU 



September 26(/i, 1833. — I examined a living bird, taken from a nest 

 at Ram's Island (on the day the preceding one was shot), and which is 

 now within about ten days of being four months old, and found that 

 in this bird, which was presumed to be a male, the bill was more robust, 

 and the tarsi longer and stronger than those of the adult female : bill 

 and tarsi exceeded those of the adidt female one line in length. It 

 will be seen how this agrees with the Shetland specimen described by 

 Mr. YarreU. He says : — " The whole length of this specimen, from 

 the point of the beak to the end of the tail-feathers, is 15 inches ; 

 from the point of the beak to the end of the iirst feathers, 1 inch and 

 i a line ; from the point of the beak to the rictus, 1 inch 10 lines ; 

 from the carpus to the end of the tii'st primary (which is the longest), 

 11 inches 8 lines ; length of the tarsus, 1 inch 7 lines; of the middle 

 toe and nail, 1 inch 6 lines."* My specimen was not selected as 

 being small in some of its proportions, but was merely one of three 

 birds which were killed on the occasion. 



Secondly, as to colour of tarsi and toes. — That stated to distinguish 

 L. capistratus from L. ridUjundus is a mere transition shade, through 

 which all individuals of the latter pass before the arterial blood-red 

 hue is attained. 



Thirdly, tlie disposition of black or broicn on the head, whence the 

 name L. capistratus, and more definitely masked gull of British authors, 

 is, likewise, either a transitional or an accidental appearance, and the 

 shade of that colour varies from the broccoli-brown attributed to it, 



* Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1831, p. 151. 



