STERNINJE. GELOCHELIDON. LARINJE, 237 
connected by anteriorly concave webs ; claws a little arched, 
compressed, very slender. Plumage soft, close, blended, 
very short on the fore-part of the head ; wings very long, 
narrow, and pointed ; tail of moderate length, forked, of 
twelve feathers. 
297. Gelochelidon palustris. Marsh Gull-Tern. 
Bill and feet black, hind claw straight. In winter, the 
forehead and top of the head white, a black crescent before 
the eyes, and a black spoi behind them. In summer, the 
forehead, top of the head, occiput, and nape, deep greenish- 
black. Sides of the head, fore-neck, and all the lower parts 
white; upper parts pale greyish-blue; edges of wings white- 
ish ; primary quills hoary on the outer web, deep grey on the 
inner; their shafts and those of the tail-feathers white. 
Young with the lower parts white, the top of the head white, 
spotted with grey and brown ; the upper parts of the body 
and wings variegated with grey, brown, and yellowish ; the 
quills greyish-brown. 
Male, 14, 34, 12, 1^, lp, A* 
This species is said by M. Temminck to be abundant in 
Hungary and toward the borders of Turkey ; while Mr Audu- 
bon has found it breeding from the mouth of the Mississippi to 
Connecticut. It thus frequents fresh-water lakes and rivers, 
rather than the sea-shores, and is said to feed on coleoptera, 
libeliulse, moths, and other insects, which it catches on wing. 
A few individuals have been met with in the south of Eng- 
land, from one of which Montagu discovered the species, ap- 
plying to it the specific name Angli:a , which, as M. Temminck 
remarks, “n’est point d’un choix heureux.” The same remark 
applies to Sterna Cantiaca, though not in an equal degree. 
Gull* billed Tern. Marsh Tern. 
Sterna Anglica, Mont. Ornith. Diet. Suppl. — -Sterna Ang- 
lica, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. ii. 744. — Gelochelidon palustris, 
Marsh Gull-Tern, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 
FAMILY L. LABJNiE. LARXNE BIRDS, 
OR GULLS. 
The Sterninse and Larinas are connected by the genus 
last described, and that which comes first in order in the 
present family, of which the principal characters are the 
following : — - 
