GULL, 379 



irides hazel : eye-lids brown : head, neck, under parts of the 



body, and tail, white : back and wings pale grey : the outer edge 



of the four firft quills, and tips of the firft five, black ; but the 



fourth and fifth have a white fpot at the tips; the reft, except 



the three neareft the body, have the ends white : the legs dull 



greenifh white *. 



Thefe birds differ a little in their markings : in one, which 



weighed twelve ounces, and was feventeen inches in length, the 



head, and half the neck, were marked with fhort dufky ftreaks : 



the ends of the firft five quills black ; the outer one deepeft ; the 



tips of all white ; but the two firft had a bar of black near the 



tip 5 all the others like the back, with the ends white : in other 



things like the above-defcribed. This was fhot on the 'Thames in 



February, and was very lean. 



This feems to be the mod common of all the Gulls, being found Placb anb 

 rL n i • , • i • Manners* 



m valt numbers on our ihores and rivers which are contiguous to 



the fea. Seen alfo very far north, as far as Iceland, and the Ruffian 



lakes : is likewife met with in the neighbourhood of the Cafpian Sea, 



in various fhores of the Mediterranean ; and as far fouth as Greece : 



is found alfo in America, on the coaft of Newfoundland f. It breeds 



on the rocks and cliffs,Aike others of the genus; and the eggs are 



two inches and a half in length ; of a deep olive brown, marked 



with irregular deep reddifh blotches J. It is a tame fpecies, and 



may be feen by hundreds on the Ihores of the Thames and other 



* In the laft quoted bird of Briffon, the legs are faid to be red, otherwife U 

 does not materially differ from the firft. 



t 4ra. Zool. 



X The eggs are two in number, the fize of thofe of a Hen. — Dec. Ruff. i. 

 p. 249. 



3 C 2. rivers, 



