343 



RHODOSTETHIA EOSEA. 



(CUNEATE-TAILED GULL.) 



Larus roseus, Macgill. Mem. Wern. Soc. v. p. 249 (1824). 



Larus rossii, Richards. App. Parry's Second Voy. p. 359 (1825). 



Eossia rosea (Macg.), Bp. Comp. List, p. 62 (1838). 



Bhodostethia rossi (Richards.), Macg. Man. Brit. Om. ii. p. 253 (1842). 



BhodostetMa roseus (Macg), Bruch, J. f. Om. 1853, p. 106. 



Figuroe notabiles. 

 Wils. 111. of Zool. pi. 8 ; Jard. & Selby, 111. Orn. pi. 14; Naumann, Vog. Deutschl. taf. 388. 

 figs. 3, 4 ; Gould, B. of G. Brit. v. pi. 63 ; Gray & Mitchell, Gen. of B. iii. pi. 180. 



Ad. ptil. test, albus, dorso et alis supr& pallide cseruleo-einereis : primariis saturatioribus, scapis cseruleo- 

 cinereis, remige extimo in pogonio externo fere ad apicem nigro, primariis intimis et secundariis 

 omnibus albo terminatis, torque collari nigra : corpore subtiis rosaceo tincto : cauda alba, cuneata : 

 rostro nigro : pedibus rubris. 



Ad. ptil. Mem. torque collari nulla : corpore subtiis minus rosaceo tincto. 



Adult in summer (Disco Bay, 1859). Entire mantle rather pale French grey or pearl-grey; primaries rather 

 darker in shade, the shafts pale lavender-grey, the first quill with the outer web nearly to the tip black ; 

 some of the inner primaries and all the short secondaries terminated with white, forming a white bar on 

 the wing ; a black band encircling the neck, broadest at the nape and narrowing towards the front of 

 the neck ; entire rest of the plumage, including the tail, white, the underparts tinged with rose-colour ; 

 tail cuneate in shape, the central rectrices being 08 inch longer than the outer ones ; bill blackish, fea- 

 thered down to the nostril; iris dark brown; legs coral-red. Total length about 1T5 to 11*75 inches, 

 culmen 0'95, wing 10-1, tail 4'4, tarsus 1-1. 



Adult in winter (Tadcaster) . Differs from the summer plumage in lacking the black band on the neck, and 

 in having the underparts less tinged with rose-colour, or else pure white. 



Young {fide H. Saunders, Ibis, 1875, p. 485) . " Bill black, feathered to base of nostril, thence to tip - 6 inch ; 

 from gape to tip 1-2. Head white; a few dark hairlike feathers round the eye of one specimen, and 

 beneath the eye of the other ; black collar slightly developed on the one, distinct in the other, especially 

 on nape. Breast pure white, with a pink tinge on the lower part and on the abdomen. Mantle to 

 rump grey, lighter on shoulders. Wing, length (underneath measurement) 9'4-9"5 inches. Primaries — 

 first, second, and third smoke-brown on outer web and shaft, this colour running round the tip and 

 some way up the inner web, the remainder of which is white ; on the fourth and fifth the white portion 

 increases, but the shaft continues dark, although successively becoming lighter till on the tenth it is 

 pure white ; in the sixth the dark marking on the webs becomes a brown bar, which gradually decreases 

 until it is nearly lost in the ninth, and totally so in the tenth primary, which is entirely white. These 

 dark tips give a very pretty barred appearance to the wings. Secondaries pearl-grey, passing into 



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