BIRDS LAEIDAE — EISSA. 



853 



opinion, must give place to that of Ord, cited above ; he also designates it as the " Banded- tail 

 Tern." To determine what species was described under the above name (if it was not distinct) 

 has long been considered a problem which it was very desirable to solve ; it agrees in every 

 particular with specimens of the young of bonapartei, now under examination. Mr. Ord's 

 description is as follows : 



" Beneath pure white ; above blue ash ; below the auriculars a patch of dark slate ; tail 

 white, short, almost even, crossed by a dark brown band ; a line of brown from the shoulder of 

 the wing to the tertials. Weight full five ounces." 



The slender and tern-like form of the bill probably induced Mr. Ord to put it in Sterna. 



Note by Br. Buckley. — "Abundant on Puget's Sound, in the neighborhood of which I obtained 

 several specimens. This species is the only gull commonly eaten by the Nisqually Indians. I 

 broiled one of these birds and found it about equal, in gastronomic qualities, to the Ballus 

 crepitans. ' ' 



List of specimens. 



Catal. 

 No. 



6927 

 7934 

 7393 

 6467 

 6468 

 5569 

 6469 



8432 

 8434 

 8438 



Sez. 



Locality. 



Coast New York 



Nelson river, H. B. T. 



Arctic America 



Calirornia 



Sau Diego, Cat 



Presidio, Cal 



Fetaluma, Cal 



Puget'sSound, W. T.. 



do 



do 



do 



do 



When col- 

 lected. 



Aug , 1856 



Sept. — , 1857 

 Aug. 30, 1857 

 do 



Whence obtained. 



Cab. Gr. N. Lawrence, 



D.Gunn 



J. Gould 



do 



Lt. Trowbridge , 



do 



£. Samuels. ,: 



Dr.Suckloy 



• do.. 



A. Campbell. 



do 



do 



Orig'l 

 No. 



139 



558 



Collected by- 



Length. 



Jno, Isbister. 



Dr. Kennerly . 

 do 



Stretch 

 ofwings. 



14.00 



13.00 

 14.50 

 14.00 



32.00 



Wing. 



10.00 



10.25 

 9.25 

 10.00 



Eyes bl'k, legs yellow. 



CHROICOCEPHALUS MINUTUS, B r u c h . 



The liittlc GnU. 



Larus minutus, Pallas, Reise, III, 702.— Bonap. Syn. 1828, No. 292.— Rich. & Sw. F. B. A. II, 1831, 426.— Nutt. 



Man. II, 1834, 289. 

 Chroicocephalus minutus, Bruch, Cab. Jour. 1855, 290. 



gp. Ch. Mult. Head and upper part of the neck black ; a white crescent behind the eyes ; part of the lower neck and 



under plumage roseate white ; rump and tail pure white ; back and wings of a pure and very pale bluish gray ; primaries and 

 secondaries ash gray tipped with white ; bill deep lake red ; iris dark brown ; legs and feet carmine. Length, about 11>^ 

 inches. 

 Hab. — Arctic America ? Europe. 



There is no specimen in the collection from North America, although a fine series from 

 Europe has been presented to the Smithsonian Institution by the Norwich Museum, England. 



RISSA, Leach. 



Rissa, Leach, Steph. Gen. Zool. XIII, 1825, 180. Type Larus tridactylus, L. 

 Ch,— Bill rather long, strong, and much compressed ; culmen straight at base, curved from the nostrils to the tip ; nostrils 

 lateral and longitudinal ; wings long and pointed ; tail even ; tarsi rather short ; toes slender and united by a full web ; hind 

 toe rudimentary or very small. 



