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XI V. — Account of a JVew Species of Lar iis, shot 
in Zetland. 
By Laurekce EdmoxVdston, Esq,, 
{Read Mth March 18^1.) 
In no department of Ornithology have obscurity and error 
been more conspicuous than in what relates to the Gull 
tribe. Although widely diffused — of roaming and migra- 
tory habits — of striking and interesting peculiarities of in- 
stinct — and comparative familiarity of disposition, many of 
the species of this genus of birds have been long indistinct- 
ly characterised ; and some are yet hardly known to natu- 
ralists. 
The young, of all the species of gull of which we have 
any accurate account, differ from the parent-birds in their 
plumage, and frequently in their modes of life ; and the 
different species approach each other often by such nice 
gradations, that, without a continued and intimate acquaint- 
ance with their varied appearances in their native regions, 
or the possession of that practical tact in detecting specific 
differences, which such an acquaintance is best calculated 
to confer, a mere examination of the external characters 
