LAE.TJS BEUNNEICEPHALUS. 1053 



four or five together in chasing a Tern, which, hotly pursued, almost clashes against the boats as it darts 

 through the thick of its enemies and swallows its prey in its flight. I have not noticed this Gull dive as the 

 Kittiwake does when plunging into a shoal of sprats ; but it spreads out its legs, and half alighting on the 

 water as it reaches the surface, bobs its head under and seizes the fish. When tired of circling round, flying 

 up and down, and hovering over the shoals of fish, they settle in flocks of a dozen or more on the water, floating 

 lightly on its surface close together, some every now and then rising and starting off on a new cruise, while 

 others espying the flock from a distance, come and join it. They repose a good deal on rocks, two or three 

 sitting together ; and their mode of progression on the sea-beach is by short little runs, which they take with 

 considerable grace of deportment. This Gull, like others of the smaller species, is noisy when in company, 

 and constantly utters its note krah-krah, particularly when chasing its companions for the fish they have been 

 fortunate enough to catch. 



Nidification. — Although this species has been ascertained to breed near the Pangong Lake in Thibet and 

 in the valley of the Hoang-ho, no account of its nesting-habits, or description of its eggs and nest, have as yet 

 been published. Whether Prjevalsky took the eggs or not I do not know; but Dr. Henderson did not succeed 

 in finding the nest at the Pangong Lake. 



GAVIiE. 

 Fam. PEOCELLARIID^l. 



Bill hooked at the tip, which is elevated and distinct from the base in both mandibles ; 

 sides grooved, in some furnished with lamellae ; nostrils tubular, placed on the base of the 

 culmen and opening to the front. Wings long and pointed. Tail short, variable in the number 

 of feathers. Legs short, placed far back ; the tibia more feathered than in the last family. Feet 

 fully webbed, the outer toe not shorter than the middle ; hind toe present as a claw only. 



Of oceanic habit and powerful flight. Of variable size. Nesting on rocks or in holes in 

 the ground. Sternum with one fissure in each half of the posterior margin. 



Genus PUFFINTJS. 

 Bill rather long and slender, the tip much elevated and hooked, the gonys curved ; nostril- 

 tube flattened above, rather short, and with two orifices with a division equal to their width. 

 Wings long, the 1st quill slightly exceeding the 2nd. Tail of 12 feathers, graduated, rounded at 

 the tip. Tarsus much compressed, the sides protected by well-defined scutes, shorter than the 

 outer and middle toes ; hind claw very small. 



6t2 



