THE GENUS LAEUS. 
967 
Synonyms, "^Larus argentatus^ Temm. Man. d"'Orn. pt. 
ii. p. 764 Herring Gull, Mont. Orn. Diet. 
I am sorry that no more synonyms can be given with 
certainty : authors have so confounded this, and the L. 
fuscus, as well as others, that it were to little purpose to 
exhibit a critical view of their blunders. 
ifm«rAr<y.— -The adult birds of this species vary consider- 
ably in size ; the largest which I have seen were 25 inches 
in length, and the smallest 22. There is also considerable 
variation in the markings of the outer primaries : in some 
specimens the black bar of the primaries extends to the 
sixth, there being a spot on its outer web, but it usually 
terminates on the fifth. A large portion of the ends of the 
first and second quills being white, in other specimens 
there is a spot of black on the outer web of the first, and a 
bar across the second. In a specimen from the last Arctic 
Expedition, the primaries are but slightly tipped with 
white, excepting the first, of which two inches are white, 
with a small brown mark at the end of the inner web, and 
a white spot near the end of the second quill. In another 
specimen, from the same Expedition, the first quill has a 
large spot of white near the end, beyond which a narrow 
bar of black, and the tip white ; and there is a white spot 
on the inner web of the second near the end. 
The name of argentatus, or silvered, signifying a dark 
colour, with a superficial tinge of white, cannot with any 
propriety be applied to this species ; that of argenteus, or 
silvery, I have chosen, as nearly allied to the preceding in 
sound, and, although not by any means peculiarly appli- 
cable to this species, yet as sufferable as that of marinus 
applied to another species, and much for the same reason. 
