THE GENUS LAllUS. 
263 
unable to discriminate between them; and Temminck 
passes over the subject in silence. The young of all the 
large gulls known by the older writers have been variously 
confounded by them, and indifferently described under 
various names, such as Wagel^ L, nccvius, Sec; all which 
it were better entirely to forget. 
Synonyms, — ? Adult Larm fuscus^ Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. 
p, 815; would appear to be var. ^ of L. marinus of 
the same author, Ind. Orn. ii. p. 814; Temm. Man. 
d'Orn. ii. p. 767.— -Xm Black-hacked Gull^ Mont 
Orn. Diet. — Silvery GuU, Lath. Syn. vi. p. 375. 
Remarks. — The term argentatus signifies properly, not 
silvery, but silvered ; that is, denotes, not the colour of 
silver, but a deep brown or blackish colour, with a shade 
or washing of whitish or light grey upon it. In this sense 
it is commonly taken by the French naturalists; take, for 
example, le Renard argentee {Canis argentatus), the fur 
of which is described as de couleur noir, a laquelle se mele 
quelqtie pen de blanc,'''' Desmar, Looking upon the word 
argentatus in this light, some have applied it as a specific 
name to the present species. Others, considering it as ex- 
pressive of a tint resembling that of silver, and observing 
that this tint does not belong to the species in question, 
have applied the name of argentatus to another species, 
giving to the present that of fuscus. This difference of 
opinion with regard to the true signification of the term, 
has given rise to a good deal of confusion. The name of 
argentatus is fully as applicable to the present species as 
that of fuscus ; but as Temminck retains the latter, after 
LiNNiEUS and others, it may as well remain. 
