No. V.] 



ZOOLOGY. 



695 



In the perfect breeding plumage it has hitherto been called Sterna Fissipes ; in its 

 winter dress it is the Sterna Nigra of Linnaeus and others ; and the young birds, 

 under the supposition of their being different, have been called Sterna Obscura, or 

 the Brown Tern. M. Temminck has adopted Nigra as the specific name, in pre- 

 ference to Fissipes. The Black Tern is not noticed by Wilson. 



Larus Argentatus. Herring GulL 



The Herring Gull has been called Larus Fuscus by some writers, but the true 

 application of that name is to the Lesser Black-backed Gull of Montagu. The speci- 

 mens of this species killed in Greenland and the Arctic Seas, have, in almost every 

 instance, the primary feathers of their wings without the black markings towards 

 their ends, which distinguish these birds in other countries ; the northern birds have 

 nevertheless been considered as the same species. Captain Sabine, in his account 

 of the birds seen in his first voyage, yielded his opinion on this point to the 

 authority of M. Temminck. The specimen now under consideration, as well as 

 others which have been received from Hudson's Bay, have the primaries marked as 

 commonly described; sa'that it seems the singular variations in this change of 

 colour in the feathers of the wings does not extend beyond the very cold regions of 

 the north. If they are varieties, it will be desirable to distinguish them by calling 

 the one, the Silvery Herring Gull, and the other, the Black-winged Herring Gull. 



Larus Tridactylus. Kittiwake Gull. 



This species abounds in Hudson's Bay. The specimen received is of an immature 

 bird. Kittiwakes have been more generally called Larus Rissa, when in their 

 perfect breeding plumage ; whilst Larus Tridactylus used only to be applied to them 

 in their younger state, in which they are known to the English Ornithologist as 

 Tarrock Gulls. The name of the immature bird has, however, superseded the older 

 specific name ; it is very appropriate, as distinguishing the particular character of 

 the species, that of being destitute of the hind claw. 



Larus Atricilla. Laughing Gull. 



This bird is published in the ninth volume of Wilson's Ornithology,, under the name 

 of Larus Ridibundus, which name certainly does not belong to it, for his description so 

 well accords with the bird sent home by Captain Franklin, as to leave no doubt that it 

 was made from a specimen similar to that now before us, which cannot be referred to 

 the true Larus Ridibundus. As there are differences between the authors who have 

 noticed the Larus Atricilla, a description of this species seems necessary. It is near 

 seventeen inches long to the end of the tail ; the bill is near an inch and a half long, 

 bright orange red ; the feathers extending far beyond the junction of the mandibles,, 



