746 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LONGIPENNES— GAVIJZ. 



to tlic fcatliei's. Head, nock, and under parts, mottled with \Yhite and dusky. Primaries 

 uuiforuily Idaek ; secondaries with a patcli of Ijrowuisli-black near the ends; tertials wholly 

 broM'uish-blaci;, narrowly tipped with whitish. Tail with a broad subterminal band of black, 

 uari-ii\"\-ly tippnl \Titli white. Termiual half of bill black, the extreme tip yellowish. Young- 

 of-the-year in Augu.st : Everywhere mottled thickly with brownish-black, on the upper parts 

 the feathers witli yellowish-white edges, tlie pearl-blue of the adults scarcely apparent, except 

 (.m the wiiig-i-iiverts. Terminal twti-thirds of bill with the tip black, the rest light flesh- 

 coh.r. Dimensiuus: length 19.75; extent 48. .50; wing 14.75; bill above 1.70; gape 2.30; 

 height at nostril 0.45; at angle 0.50; tarsus 2.10; middle toe 1.80. N. Am. at large, on 

 the whole the commonest species, both coastwise and in the interior ; breeds iu the U. S. as 

 well as far mirth. 



779. L. ca'nus. (Lat. canua, hoary gray.) EUROPEAN Mew Gull. Assigned to N. A. on 

 strength of a specimen shot by me in Labrador in 18G0. It is entirely like the next to be 

 described excepting the following particulars : Tarsus a fourtji longer than the middle toe and 

 claw. Bill stouter, with less convex culmen and better developed angle. The bluish bases of 

 tlie primaries darker, not fading into white at their junction with the black, not running so far 

 aU>ng the feathers, nor farther iu the centres than along the edges of the inner webs. Size 

 greater. Pr^.djably not more than varietally distinct from the next to be described. 



780. L. brachyrhyn'chus. (Gr. fipaxvs, brachus, short; pvyxos, hnif/cJios, beak.) Amekican 

 Mew Gi'LL. Bill small, somewhat stiatt for its length, nmch shorter than the head or tarsus. 

 Upper mandible straight to the end of the nostrils, moderately convex to the tip, rather more 

 so than in ccotus. Angle of lower mandible pretty well- developed, comparatively more so than 

 in canus ; the lower outline considerably concave posterior to it, somewhat so before it. 

 Commissure about straight to near the tip. Tarsus and middle toe and claw about equal, the 

 former liut little if any longer than the latter. Adult in summer : Bill bluish-green, its ter- 

 minal third bright yellow. Legs and feet dusky bluish-green, the wel)S yellowish. Mantle light 

 grayish-blue or daili pearl-blue, a shade darker than in canus, much darker than iu deJawa- 

 rensis. Primaries: the bluish -gray bases rather lighter than in cotm<s, much darker than iu 

 delawarensis, but fading into nearly pure white on all but the first at the juncture with the 

 black portion ; these bluish-gray bases of the feathers extend toward the ends much further 

 than iu cnntts, as far as in delmoarensis, and, as in that species, on the 2d, 3d, and 4th. extend 

 further along the central porticnis of the inner web than at the edges, so that they are bordered 

 for some distance ^vith the black of the terminal portions of the feathers. The black takes iu 

 the outer web of the 1st primary and nearly the whole of the inner, but rapidly becomes nar- 

 ro^rer, till it is merely a subterminal transverse bar on the 6th. The 7th has frequently a spot 

 of black on one or b(.ith webs. First, with a large white spot near the end two inches long, 

 longer on the outer than on the inner web, not divided by the black shaft, the tip of the feather 

 blacli ; 2d, with a similar spot, but smaller, not longer on the outer than on the inner web, 

 and divided liy the black shaft ; the extreme apex white, as are the apices of all the other 

 priuuiries except the Tst. Adult, high breeding plumage : Eyelid, ocular region, and gape of 

 mouth, briglit orange-yellow, which color extends over the tip and cutting edges of the bill. 

 The green of the bill with a peculiar hoary glaucescence. Legs and feet bluish -green, the 

 webs bright gamboge-yellow. Sometimes a faint pink blush of the plumage of the under 

 parts. Adult in winter : The head and neck all round, whh the upper part of the breast, mot- 

 tled with dusky. Approaching maturity : Head and neck faintly mottled. Primaries brown- 

 ish-black-, without decided white tips; the spots em the 1st and 2d restricted. Tertials with a 

 dusky sjxit on each web near the end. Tail with a more or less perfect subterminal band. 

 Young, first winter : Bill flesh-color; black on the termiual half. Legs and feet light yellow- 

 ish. Head, neck, rump, and whole under parts, mottled irregularly with dusky. Back as in 

 the adult, but the feathers with grayish edgings. Wiug-covcrts, secondaries, and tertials 



