178 



Sabine's xeme. 



the breast and belly, pure white; a narrow black 

 collar surrounds the neck at the meeting of the ash- 

 colour and of the white : the back, scapulars, and wing- 

 coverts are ash-coloured, very much lighter than the 

 head, but darker than the corresponding parts of the 

 Larus ridibiindus : the lower ends of the scapulars are 

 tipped with white : the first five primary quill-feathers 

 with black shafts, the whole outer webs of them black, 

 the edge of their upper webs white to within an inch 

 and a half of the tips, the white sometimes continued 

 to the tip ; the tips of the third, fourth, and fifth 

 white, giving the wing, when closed, a spotted ap- 

 pearance ; the sixth primary quill-feather with a white 

 shaft, having the web more or less black, but prin- 

 cipally white, with sometimes a black spot near the 

 end ; the other primaries, the secondaries, and the 

 tertials white ; the whole under parts of the wings 

 white. The wings extend an inch or more beyond the 

 longest feathers of the tail. The legs, feet, and claws 

 black ; the thigh feathered to within three-eighths of 

 an inch of the knee ; the length of the tarse one inch 

 and a half ; the length of the front toes about an inch, 

 the inner one the shortest ; the hinder toe small, and 

 placed high. The tail, with its upper and under coverts, 

 white ; the tail-feathers twelve, the outer narrower 

 than the centre ones ; the outer tail-feathers about 

 five inches long, the others in succession gradually 

 shortening, so that the whole tail becomes forked by 

 a diminution of nearly an inch/' 



He adds, that it lays two olive-coloured eggs, 

 blotched with brown, on the bare ground, which 

 it hatches the last week in July : the young, when 



