1784 Birds. 



killed the first specimen which was obtained, that the species is dedicated, as a tribute 

 for his unwearied exertions in the promotion of natural history on the late Arctic voy- 

 ages, in all of which he bore a part. Of the peculiar habits or winter retreat of this 

 species nothing is known. 



" Description of a specimen killed, June, 1823, at Alagnak, Melville Peninsula. 

 Lat. 69i deg. N. 



" Colour. — Scapulars, inter-scapulars, and both surfaces of the wings, clear pearl 

 gray ; outer web of the first quill blackish-brown to its tip, which is gray ; tips of the 

 scapulars and. lesser quills whitish. Some small feathers near the eye, and a collar 

 round the middle of the neck, pitch black. Rest of the plumage white, the neck above 

 and the whole under plumage deeply tinged with peach-blossom-red in recent speci- 

 mens. Bill black ; its rictus and the edges of the eyelids reddish-orange. Legs and 

 feet vermillion-red ; nails blackish. 



" Form. — Bill slender, weak, with a scarcely perceptible salient angle beneath; the 

 upper mandible slightly arched and compressed towards the point ; the commissure 

 slightly curved at the tip. Wings an inch longer than the decidedly cuneiform tail, 

 of which the central feathers are an inch longer than the lateral. Tarsi rather stout ; 

 the thumb very distinct, armed with a nail as large as that of the outer toe. 



"The other specimen, killed by Mr. Sherer a few days later, differs only in the first 

 primary coverts having the same dark colour with the outer web of the first primary 

 itself." 



It would appear that the fate of the specimen of Larus Rossii, given to Mr. 

 Sabine, is not known, and that none of our public museums have since been able to 

 obtain examples; for Mr. Mitchell, the Secretary of the Zoological Society, and joint- 

 author with Mr. G. R. Gray, of the beautiful work now publishing on the genera of 

 birds, in writing to me upon the subject, remarks, " The only specimen I could hear 

 of when I wanted it [Larus Rossii] for the ' Genera of Birds ' was one at Edinburgh, 

 from which I obtained a drawing." 



Being anxious to know upon what evidence Professor Macgillivray had inserted 

 Larus Rossii in his ' Manual of British Ornithology,' I wrote to this gentleman for in- 

 formation upon the point, but at present no reply to my inquiry has reached me. 

 Messrs. Gray and Mitchell adopt for this species the subgeneric name Rhodostethia, 

 with the following characters : — 



Rhodostethia, Macgillivray. 



" Bill short, slender, straight, with the culmen straight at the base, and curved at 

 the tip, the sides compressed, the gonys short, advancing upwards, and scarcely angu- 

 lated ; the nostrils lateral and submedial. Wings lengthened and pointed, with the 

 first quill the longest. Tail moderate and wedge-shaped. Tarsi strong, as long as 

 the middle toe. Toes moderate, the anterior ones united by a full web ; the hind toe 

 short and elevated." 



Mr. Yarrell, in a subsequent letter, put me in possession of the following notes 

 which he had taken of the winter plumage, &c, of this specimen :* 



* Its capture is authenticated in the following memorandum, received from 

 Henry Milncr, Esq. (Nun Appleton) : — "Ross's gull was killed by Horner, Lord 



