THE ROSY GULL. 
both, willioiit mark to distingaisli tlicm from eacli other 
as to form, or colour of plumage. Of more slender form, 
and with longer Aving than most of the Gulls, they more 
resemble the Terns, which will be presently described. 
The Little Mew is another species of whose habits wc 
scarcely knoAV anything. It is the smallest of its genus, and 
was first described and figured as a British Uird by Mon- 
tagu, from a young specimen which was shot on the Thames 
near Chelsea. Several have been shot in Britain since then; 
still it is a very rare bird. Like Sabine's Mew, it has a very 
distinctly marked greyish black head, forming the hood, 
which gives such a remarkable and characteristic appear- 
ance to many species of Gulls. Its length is about ten 
inches and a-half Russia, Siberia, the Caspian Sea, the 
Mediterranean, the Swiss Lakes, and the Baltic, are in- 
cluded in its distribution. 
Ross's Rosy Gull {RlwdostetMa Bossii), sometimes 
called the Cuneate-tailed Gull. — A very beautiful species 
this, measuring about fourteen inches in length, and as rare 
as beautiful. Only two specimens appear to have been 
taken in Britain, and but lew have been obtained in the 
arctic regions, which it is supposed principally to inhabit. 
The back and wings are a clear pearl-grey, the longer fea- 
thers of the latter having the outer webs blackish brown, 
and some whitish. Some feathers near the eye, and a collar 
roimd the neck, are pitch black ; the rest of the plumage 
white, the whole of the lower parts being tinged with rose 
colour. The margins of the eyelids are orange, and the 
legs and feet vermilion. The wings are about an inch 
longer than the tail, of which the middle exceed the side 
feathers by an inch or so ; hence the term cuneated, first 
applied to the bird by Dr. Richardson. 
We have now brought our chapter on Gulls to a conclu- 
sion, and some of our readers will no doubt be surprised to 
find how numerous are the species belonging to this family 
which visits our islands. When we speak of Sea Gulls, we 
think only of those white- winged, active birds, which we see 
