17.4 



GULL-BILLED VIRALVE ? 



( Viral va ? Anglica.) 



Vi.? vertice collogue supra nigris; corpore siiprh ccerulescente- 



cinereo, suhtus niveo ; remigibus primariis apice cinereo-fuscis 



rostro pedibusque nigris. 

 Viralve with the crown and neck above black ; the body above 



bluish-ash, beneath snowy j the primary quills ashy-brown at • 



the tip ; the beak and legs black. 

 Hirondelle de mer hansel. Temm, man. d'Orn. 2 JEdit. ii. 744. 

 Sterna aranea, or Marsh Tern. Wils. Amer. Orn. viii. 143. 



pi. Ixxii.yi 6 } 

 Marsh Tern. Lath. Gen. Hist. x. Ill 



Gull-billed Tern. (Sterna Anglica.) Mont. Orn. Diet, and 

 Supp, uoith Jig, Lath. Gen. Hist. x. 112. 



This bird greatly resembles Sterna Cantiaca : it is 

 of the same size as that bird : its beak is about an inch 

 and a half long, thick, strong, and angulated on the 

 under mandible like that of a Gull ; it is wholly 

 black : the upper part of the head, taking in the 

 eyes, is black, and extends far down the back of the 

 head and part of the neck ; sometimes there are a 

 few white feathers on the crown : the general colour 

 of the plumage of the upper parts of the body is 

 cinereous ; the tail and its upper coverts are similar 

 to the back, but the outer feather on each side is 

 white : the quills are hoary, with the tips of the first 

 five spotted black, for upwards of an ijich : in other 

 respects the wings are similar to those of Sterna Can- 

 tiaca, except that part of the inner webs which is 

 white, does not quite reach the margin, the very edge 



