120 
LARID/E. 
possible to the natural tints is all that man can perform, but 
to reach to the full beauty is impossible ; the best paintings 
in the world, by the best masters, will amply verify our state¬ 
ment on this subject. 
The Little Gull subsists upon worms, insects, and small 
fishes. 
The entire length of the adult Little Gull is ten inches and 
a quarter ; the beak from the forehead to the tip nine lines 
and a half; the tarsus one inch ; the wing from the carpus to 
the tip eight inches and a half. 
The present species is swifter on the wing than any other 
of its family, and performs the most beautiful evolutions, such 
as hovering over a promising spot in search of food, turning 
at all angles during its flight, and sometimes rising to a great 
elevation by the screw movement. This bird is also very shy 
and difficult to approach, unless its curiosity is raised by a 
practised sportsman, Avho has only to throw a piece of paper 
down, or to raise a small heap of earth, either of which the 
Little Gull Avill instantly approach to investigate, and may 
thus easily be shot. 
The summer plumage of the adult bird is very beautiful; at 
that period the entire head is black, with a small crescent¬ 
shaped spot of Avhite behind the eye. The back, shoulders, 
entire wing-coverts, and secondary quill-feathers are very pale 
bluish ash ; the secondaries are tipped Avith Avhite, and their 
inner Avebs are also partly (vhite : the primary quills are of 
the same bluish ash ; their tips white for at least an inch; 
the second, third, and some following have a black streak on 
the broader Avxb near the white tip; the outer web of the 
first quill-feather is black, although this colour does not ex¬ 
tend either to the base or the tip of the feather. The beak is 
the colour of a ripe May Duke cherry, and the legs and feet 
bright, clean, carmine red; the iris dark broAvn. 
