SABINE'S GULL. 



FORKED-TAIL GULL. 



Xema sABnra. 



Char. Mantle deep bluish gray, — French gray ; head and neck dark 

 slaty gray, bordered by a collar of black; quills black tipped with white; 

 tail and under parts white ; bill black tipped with red, which in dried 

 skins becomes yellowish. In winter the head is white, and the nape slaty 

 gray. The young birds are similar to the winter plumage of the adults, 

 but the mantle is more or less varied with brown and buff, and the tail 

 has a terminal band of black. Length about 14 inches. 



Nest. On an island, usually in a lake, sometimes near the coast, — gen- 

 erally a depression in the mossy turf, sparsely lined with grass, occasion- 

 ally on the bare ground or in sand. 



Eggs. 2-3 (usually 2) ; ground color of various shades of brown tinted 

 with olive, marked with fine spots of dark brown and gray ; average size 

 about 1.75 X 1.25. 



This interesting species was discovered by Captain Sabine 

 at its breeding-station on some low rocky islands lying off the 

 west coast of Greenland, associated in considerable numbers 

 with the Arctic Tern, the nests of the two birds intermingled. 

 It is analogous to the Tern, not only in its forked tail and in 

 its choice of a breeding-place, but also in the boldness which it 

 displays in the protection of its young. The parent birds flew 



