LITTLE GULL. 



The winter plumage of this pretty little Gull is 

 not known : it is in length about ten inches, and in 

 its young state has the beak of a blackish-brown : the 

 irides of a deep grey : the forehead, space round the 

 eyes, all the under parts, and upwards of half the 

 tail white : the top of the head and the occiput are 

 blackish-ash : the nape and the back are blackish- 

 grey : the lesser wing-coverts are whitish, spotted with 

 grey and blackish : the middle-coverts are blackish- 

 grey, edged with clear brown : the greater coverts 

 are whitish externally and at their tips : the four 

 first quills are black on their outer webs and at 

 their tip, but white on their inner webs ; the three 

 following are ash-coloured outwardly, with their tips 

 white : the tail is terminated by a broad black band, 

 which is narrowest on the outward feathers : the legs 

 are livid flesh-colour. 



In its adult summer plumage all the head, and the 

 fore part of the neck, are clothed in a black hood : 

 the lower part of the neck, all the under parts of the 

 body, the rump, and the tail are pure white : the 

 back, scapulars, and wings are bright clear ashy- 

 blue : the two first quills are blackish, tipped with 

 white ; the three following are ash-colour : the beak 

 is deep bright red : the irides are deep brown : the 

 legs are of a reddish-crimson. 



This bird inhabits the rivers and lakes of the 

 eastern countries of Europe, and the west of Asia : 

 it is abundant in Russia and in the neighbourhood 

 of the Caspian Sea. It rarely visits this part of 

 the globe ; but one specimen has been shot on the 

 Thames near Chelsea, and is accurately described 



