534 ARCTIC GULL. Class II. 



where they breed in the heath; if difturbed they fly 



about like the lapwing, but foon alight. They are 



alfo found in the Orknies, where they appear in May, 



and retire in Auguft. It is alfo found on the coafl 



of l^orkfhire, where it is known by the name of 



Feafer. All writers that mention it agree, that it 



has the property of purfuing the lefTer gulls fo 



long, that they mute for fear, and that it catches 



up and devours their excrement before they drop 



into the water ; from which the name. Linnaeus 



wittily calls it the Parajite, alluding to its fordid 



life. 

 Descrip. xhe length of this fpecies is twenty-one inches: 



the bill is dufky, about an inch and a half long, 



pretty much hooked at the end, but the {trait 



part is covered with a fort of cere. The noftrils 



are narrow, and placed near the end, like the for- 



Male. mer. In the male, the crown of the head is black: 

 the back, wings, and tail dufky; but the lower 

 part of the inner webs of the quil-feathers white : 

 the hind part of the neck, and whole underfide of 

 the body white : the tail confifts of twelve feathers, 

 the two middlemoft near four inches longer than 

 the others : the legs black, fmall, and fcaly. 



Female. 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 fpecimen from which Mr. Edwards 



, toke the figure of his female Arftic bird, had loft 



thofe 



