180 
Descrip- 
TION. 
MALE. 
FEMALE. 
ARCTIC GULL. Cuiass IL. 
where they appear in May, and retire in du- 
gust; and also on the coast of Yorkshire, where 
they are known by the name of Feaser. All 
writers that mention this species agree, that it 
has the property of pursuing the lesser gulls 
so long, that they discharge the contents of the 
maw, and that it catches up and devours what 
they disgorge before it drops into the water ; 
from which the name; Linneus wittily calling 
it the Parasite, alluding to its sordid life. 
Its length is twenty-one inches. The bill is 
dusky, about an inch and a half long, pretty 
much hooked at the end, but the strait part 
is covered with a sort of cere. The nostrils 
are narrow, and placed near the end. In 
the male, the crown of the head is black; the 
back, wings, and tail, dusky; but the lower 
part of the inner webs of the quil feathers 
are white; the hind part of the neck, and 
whole under side of the body of the same 
color; the tail consists of twelve feathers, thé 
two middlemost nearly four inches longer than 
the others; the legs black, small, and scaly. 
The female is entirely brown; but of a much 
paler color below than above; the feathers in 
the middle of the tail only two inches longer 
than the others. The specimen from which 
Mr. Edwards took the figure of his female 
