PLATE LXVIII. 



nitude the largest of our Herring-gulls; we have a pair of the 

 Black-backed species nearly of the same size, but a single example 

 of the latter in our possession is larger than the Glaucous Gull. 

 The comparative size of those birds, which must be considered as a 

 general rather than an absolute criterion, may be estimated thus ; 

 the Black-backed Gull from twenty-five to twenty-nine or thirty 

 inches, the Glaucous Gull twenty-five inches, the Herring-gull 

 twenty-two inches. 



We cannot conclude these observations without remarking, that 

 amidst the conflict of opinions respecting the identity of this species 

 under the disguises of its different states of plumage, it is uniformly 

 admitted to be the bird which Martens described under the name of 

 Burgomeister in his voyage to Spitzbergen, more than a century and a 

 half ago ; perhaps this conclusion may be accurate, but we cannot avoid 

 observing, that in the bird described by Martens there were some consi- 

 derable differences.* In the latter among other exceptions, it is mention- 



* Burgermeister (in English Major) is the biggest of all the the birds 

 of Spitzbergen, wherefore his name is given hiin as being the chief of them. 

 His bill is crooked, of a yellow colour, narrow and thick; his under bill is 

 somewhat rising or knobby at the point or end, a great deal more than the 

 Kutge-chefs which looketh very pretty, as if he had a cherry in his mouth ; 

 he hath longish nostrils and a red ring about his eyes ; he hath but three claws 

 of a grey colour ; his legs are grey and not quite so long as those of a stork, yet 

 he is almost equally big with him. His tail is broad like a fan^ and white, 

 which is chiefly to be understood of these birds when they fly; his wings are 

 of a pale colour, and so is all the back, but his wings are white at the tip, 

 and so is the whole body. Marten's Voyage, part 4. 



Burghermeister Spitsbergensis. Frid. Martens in omnibus fere cum 

 Laro nostro cinereo maximo convenit, praeter quern quod postico digito 

 careat. liny. Syn. av. J27. 



