336 
LARID/E. 
veritable L. ridibundus, with black head, bill and legs arterial blood-red, 
which I shot in its breeding-station at Eam’s Island, Lough Neagh, 
on the 15th June, 1833. 
in. lin. 
Length (total) .... 
„ of carpus to end of first quill 
„ of bill above 
„ „ to rictus 
,, of tarsus ... 
„ of tibia (bare portion) 
„ of middle toe and nail 
„ of inner toe without nail 
„ of inner toe-nail 
„ of hind toe and nail 
. 15 6 
. 11 8 
. 1 3 
. 1 11 
. 1 7 
, 0 10 
1 7 
. 1 0 
. 0 2 
. 0 5 
September 2Qth, 1833. — I examined a living bird, taken from a nest 
at Eam’s Island (on the day the preceding one was shot), and which is 
now within about ten days of being four months old, and found that 
in this bird, which was presumed to be a male, the bill was more robust, 
and the tarsi longer and stronger than those of the adult female : bill 
and tarsi exceeded those of the adult female one line in length. It 
will be seen how this agrees with the Shetland specimen described by 
Mr. Yarrell, He says : — “ The whole length of this specimen, from 
the point of the beak to the end of the tail-feathers, is 15 inches ; 
from the point of the beak to the end of the first feathers, 1 inch and 
i a line ; from the point of the beak to the rictus, 1 inch 10 lines; 
from the carpus to the end of the first primary (which is the longest), 
11 inches 8 lines ; length of the tarsus, 1 inch 7 lines; of the middle 
toe and nail, 1 inch 6 lines.”* My specimen was not selected as 
being small in some of its proportions, but was merely one of three 
birds which were killed on the occasion. 
Secondly, as to colour of tarsi and toes. — That stated to distinguish 
L. capistratus from L. ridibundus is a mere transition shade, through 
wdiich all individuals of the latter pass before the arterial blood-red 
hue is attained. 
Thirdly, the disposition of black or brown on the head , whence the 
name L. capistratus , and more definitely masked gull of British authors, 
is, likewise, either a transitional or an accidental appearance, and the 
shade of that colour varies from the broccoli-brown attributed to it, 
Proceedings of tbe Zoological Society for 1831, p. 151. 
