424 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



[189.] 9. Larus Franklinii. (Nobis.) Franklins Rosy Gull. 



Genus, Larus, Linn. 



Larus atricilla {Laughing Gull). Sab. Frankl. Journ., p. C95 * ; detailed description. 



Ch. Sp. Larus Franklinii, rostro pedlbusque miniatis, dorso alnque perlaceo-cinereis, remigibus quinque exterioribus 

 nigro late fasciatis : apice remigis prioris unciali albo, tarso viginti lineas longo ; — cucullo astute nigro. 

 Sp. Ch. Franklin's Rosy Gull, with vermilion bill and feet; mantle pearl-grey; five exterior quills broadly 

 barred with black, the first one tipped with white for an inch ; tarsus twenty lines long ; — hood black in 

 summer. 



Plate lxxi. 



This is a very common Gull in the interior of the fur-countries, where it 

 frequents the shores of the larger lakes. It is generally seen in flocks, and is 

 very noisy. It breeds in marshy places. Ord's description of his Black-headed 

 Gull (Wils., ix., p. 89) corresponds with our specimens, except that the conspi- 

 cuous white end of the first quill is not noticed : the figure (pi. 74, f. 4) differs in 

 the primaries being entirely black f. The Prince of Musignano gives the totally 

 black primaries, and a tarsus nearly two inches long, as part of the specific 

 character of his L. atricilla, to which he refers Wilson's bird ; though, in his 

 Observations, he states that the adult specimens have the primaries, with the 

 exception of the first and second, tipped with white. L. Franklinii cannot be 

 referred either to the L. atricilla or L. melanocephalus of M. Temminck : the first 

 has a lead-coloured hood and deep black quill feathers, untipped by white ; and 

 the black hood of the second does not descend lower on the throat than on the 

 nape ; its quill feathers are also differently marked, and its tarsus is longer. 

 His L. ridibundus and capistratus have brown heads, and the interior of the wings 

 grey ; the latter has also a much smaller bill than our L. Franklinii. — R. 



DESCRIPTION 

 Of a male, killed, June G, 1827, on the Saskatchewan. 



Colour. — Both eyelids, the neck, rump, tail, and whole under plumage, white, the latter 

 and interior of the wings deeply tinged with peach-blossom-red. Black hood covering three- 

 quarters of an inch of the nape, and extending as much lower on the throat. Mantle and 

 wings bluish-grey. The outer web of the first quill feather is black to near the tip, and a 

 broad band of the same crosses the ends of the five outer primaries : all the quill feathers are 

 terminated with white, that on the first primary and of all the secondaries being upwards of 



* Mr. Sabine observes that this is the L. atricilla of Linnaeus, but not of Temminck. — R. 



t Four American specimens of L. atricilla are now before me. It is a larger and a totally different species. The 

 three outer quills are wholly black ; the fourth tipped for about an inch, and the fifth for half an inch, with black : 

 the extreme white spot at the point of the five first quills is very small in some, and not seen in adult specimens, 

 having these feathers worn. — Sw. 



