THE LITTLE GULL. 731 



only ; primaries : outer five with tips, outer webs, shafts and line 

 along shafts on inner webs black, washed grey at bases, 2nd and 

 3rd with minute white spot at apex and 4th to 6th with larger spots, 

 7th with dark grey outer web, black shaft and irregular subterminal 

 band and white tip and inner web, rest more white with less grey 

 on outer webs and no black subterminal bands but often a black 

 spot on outer web of 8th ; secondaries white with wide grey-black 

 subterminal shaft - streaks, inner- 

 most mostly brown -black with 

 white bases and narrow white 

 tips ; primary-coverts grey-black, 

 slightly tipped white, innermost 

 mostly ash-grey; coverts along edge 

 of wing grey - black, outer ones 

 with outer webs whitish ; greater Juvenile Little Gl 

 coverts pale ash-grey, tipped white, 



innermost brown-black narrowly tipped pale buff, outermost nar- 

 rowly edged dark grey on outer webs ; median coverts and lower 

 lesser black-brown, narrowly tipped pale buff ; upper lesser broadly 

 fringed grey -white, bases black-brown. 



First winter. — Head and upper-parts as adult winter but 

 sometimes a few feathers with short brown tips and feathers of 

 back fringed black-brown, some juvenile scapulars are frequently 

 retained and often a few upper tail-coverts ; under -parts including 

 under wing-coverts white but latter sometimes tinged grey ; wing- 

 feathers, wing-coverts and tail as juvenile ; but tips of wing- 

 coverts worn. The juvenile body-feathers are moulted Aug.-Oct., 

 but not wing-feathers and wing-coverts and usually not tail- 

 feathers, though occasionally two, or even three, middle pairs of 

 tail-feathers are moulted, new ones being white as in adult. First 

 summer. — Not examined but evidently wings and taif are as in first 

 winter. 



Second winter and summer. — Like adults but under -wing paler, 

 2nd primary with outer web grey-black and 4th to 6th with black 

 penultimate marks, bands, spots or shaft-streaks (varying), some 

 primary-coverts and some secondaries usually with dusky shafts 

 or shaft-streaks. N.B. — It is possible that some birds in 2nd 

 winter are indistinguishable from adults but the only one examined 

 in moult from 1st summer to 2nd winter had new wing-feathers as 

 above described. 



Measurements and structure. — $ wing 215-230 mm., tail 84-94, 

 tarsus 25-29, bill from feathers 21-23 (12 measured). $ wing 210- 

 226, bill 21-24. Primaries : 1st narrow, pointed and about two- 

 thirds primary-coverts, 2nd and 3rd longest, 4th 4-9 mm. shorter, 

 5th 15-23 shorter. Other structure as Bonaparte's Gull. 



Soft parts. — Bill (ad. summer) red-brown, (winter and juv.) 

 blackish, inside mouth (ad.) orange ; legs and feet (ad. summer) 

 vermilion, (ad. winter and juv.) red-brown to flesh ; iris dark brown. 



