BIRDS — LAEIDAE — PAGOPHILA. 855 



EISSA BKEVIEOSTEIS, Brandt. 



The Short-llilled Klttlwake. , 



" Rissa brevirostris, Brandt," Bruch, Rev. Lar. in Cab. Jour. 1858, 285. 



Sp. Ch. — Resembles E. tridactyla very much, both in structure and figure, but with the hind toe better formed ; bill yellow ; 

 feet coral red. 



Hob. — Northwest coast of North America. 



No specimen in the collection. 



The above is the substance of Bruch' s description of this species. The type specimen he saw 

 at St. Petersburg. 



Bonaparte (Consp. Av. II, 1857, 226) puts the name of this species as a synonym to 

 hrachyrhyncha, Gould, which he says is not L. niveus, Pall., and puts the latter species in 

 Larus, differing from Bruch, and also Gr. K. Gray, who consider L. niveus, Pall., and L. 

 hrachyrhyncha, Gould, as identical. Bonaparte further differs from Bruch in making a new 

 species, viz.^ Bissa hotzebui, of "i?. niveus, Pall., and hrachyrhyncha, Gould^" No. 36 of Bruch's 

 Monograph. These writers also vary materially in their views regarding other species ; but, as 

 Mr. Bruch has made this family of birds his especial study, with apparently good opportunities 

 for forming his opinions, I have chosen to follow him in enumerating the species now described 

 as distinct. 



EISSA NIVEA, Bruch. 



The YeUovv-bUled Gull. 



Larus niveus, Pall. Zoogr. II, 1811, 320 ; pi. Ixxiv. 



Rissa nivea, Brcch, Cab. Jour. 1855, 285. 



? Larus brachyrhynchus, Gould, Pro. Zool. Soc. July, 1843.— Ib. Voy. Sulph. Birds, pi. xxxiv. 



Sp. Ch. — Mult. Head, neck, all the under surface, rump, upper and under tail coverts, and tail, pure white ; back and 

 wings, including the primaries, gray, passing into white at the tips of the scapulars, secondaries, and all but the first five 

 primaries, which are thus marked ; the outer primary has its external web and three inches of the tip of the inner web deep 

 black ; the next primary is tipped with black for three inches and a half on its outer, and two inches and a half on its inner web, 

 and has a very minute speck of gray at the extreme tip ; the third primary is tipped with black for two inches, and has a small 

 spot of gray at the extremity ; the fourth is tipped with black for an inch and a quarter, and has a larger spot of gray at the 

 extremity than the third ; and the fifth is crossed by an irregular band of black near the tip three-quarters of an inch wide, the 

 extremity being gray, fading into white on the margin of the inner web ; bill primrose yellow ; feet orange yellow. 



Total length, 14 inches ; bill, 1' ; wing, 12^ ; tail, 5^ ; tarsi, 1|. 



Hab. — Russian America. 



The above is Mr. Gould's account in the Zoology of the Voyage of the Sulphur. 

 No specimen in the collection. 



PAGOPHILA, Kaup. 



Pagophila, Kavp, Nat. Syst. der Ear. Thier. 1829. 



Ch Bill short and stout, compressed ; the upper mandible straight at base, curved at the end ; nostrils linear and lateral ; 



wings long and pointed ; tail moderate and even ; tarsi strong and rather short ; toes strong, united by an indented web ; hind 

 toe short. 



Found only in high northern latitudes, generally far out at sea ; their food consists mostly of 

 the flesh and blubber of cetaceous animals. 



But two species known, which are mainly remarkable for the purity and whiteness of their 

 plumage. They inhabit the Arctic regions, and are of medium size. 



