CHAP. XXVII.] BOATSWAIN-GULLS. 219 
colour, a kind of sooty dull black, with very little gloss or 
shining tints on their feathers. The boatswains seldom appear 
here excepting during April and May. All the gull tribe 
during their first year are of a dingy and mottled colour, very 
unlike the neat and elegant combination of colours they after- 
wards acquire. 
