Crass IL. WAGEL GULL. 
long. The whole plumage of the head and 
body, above and below, is a mixture of white, 
ash color, and brown; the last color occupies 
the middle of each feather, and in some birds is 
pale, in others dark ; the quil feathers are black ; 
the lower part of the tail is mottled with black 
and white; towards the end is a brown black 
bar, and the tips are white; the legs are of a 
dirty white. 
Some have supposed this to be the young of 
the preceding species, which (as well as the 
rest of the gull tribe) scarcely ever attains its 
true colors till after the first year; but it must 
be observed, BM that the first colors of the irides, 
of the quil feathers, and of the tail, are in all 
birds permanent; these, as we have remarked, 
differ in each of these gulls so greatly, as ever 
to preserve unerring notes of distinction. 
This species is likewise called by some the 
Dung Hunter ; for the same reason as the last 
is styled so. : 




* Mr. Pennant afterwards altered his opinion, and in the 
Arctic Zoology, describes the Wagel as only the young of the 
Herring Gull. The Greater Black backed Gull in its imma- 
ture state of plumage assumes the same mottled appearance, and 
is often confounded with it. Ep. 
183 
