172 THE GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



mandible, and the edges of both mandibles at the. base of the same colour. 

 Edges of eyelids red, iris yellow. Feet flesh-coloured, claws yellowish. 

 The head, neck, lower parts, rump, and tail, are pure white; the back and 

 wings light greyish-blue; the edges of the wing, and a large portion toward 

 the end of all the quills, white. 



Length to end of tail 30 inches; bill along the ridge 2 T %, along the edge 

 31; wing from flexure 1% tail Sf; tarsus 2 T |; hind toe f|, its claw T 3 2; 

 second toe T §, its claw -f|; middle toe 2^ J} its claw -ff ; outer toe 2i, its 

 claw yV 



The Female, which is somewhat less, resembles the male. 



Young in full plumage. 



The bill is yellow to a little beyond the nostrils, black at the end; the 

 feet flesh-coloured, the claws dusky. The iris brown. The general colour 

 of the plumage is very pale yellowish- brown; the feathers of the back with 

 a large dusky spot towards the end; the quills and tail-feathers barred with 

 the same. 



THE GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



+Larus marinus, Linn. 



PLATE CCCCL.— Male. 



High in the thin keen air, far above the rugged crags of the desolate 

 shores of Labrador, proudly sails the tyrant Gull, floating along on almost 

 motionless wing, like an Eagle in his calm and majestic flight. On widely 

 extended pinions, he moves in large circles, constantly eyeing the objects 

 below. Harsh and loud are his cries, and with no pleasant feeling do they 

 come on the winged multitudes below. Now onward he sweeps, passes over 

 each rocky bay, visits the little islands, and shoots off towards the mossy 

 heaths, attracted perhaps by the notes of the Grouse or some other birds. 

 As he flies over each estuary, lake, or pool, the breeding birds prepare to 

 defend their unfledged broods, or ensure their escape from the powerful beak 

 of their remorseless spoiler. Even the shoals of the finny tribes sink deeper 

 into the waters as he approaches; the young birds become silent in their 



