LITTLE GULL. 
303 
inch, except the outer feather, which is nearly all white, having- only a 
small dusky spot at the end on the inner web ; the tips are slightly 
edged with dirty white ; the wings have a mixture of black, white, and 
cinereous, but the former greatly predominates ; the ridge of the wing 
from the body to the elbow is cinereous, intermixed with dusky for 
nearly half an inch in breadth ; all the rest of the coverts are black, 
several of the lower series slightly tipped with white ; the greater quills 
are elegantly marked, being white, with the exterior web, the shaft, 
and part of the inner web close to the shaft, the tip and part of the 
inner margin black, somewhat like the quill feathers of the magpie ; 
the three first have a small speck of white at the tip, in the others the 
white spot increases, till on the seventh feather the white occupies the 
place of the black at the tip ; the secondaries are more or less cinereous 
on the outer web, edged with dusky black towards the base, their tips 
and inner webs white, with more or less black towards the point, close 
to the shaft ; the tertials are mostly black, with a slight edging of 
white at the tip ; the whole under part from chin to tail is pure white, 
but the cinereous on the back comes very forward on the sides of the 
breast. The legs rather exceed an inch in length to the knee, and 
are bare of feathers for more than a quarter of an inch above the knee ; 
the foot is small, the inner toe considerably shorter than the others ; 
the middle toe a trifle longer than the outer, measuring rather more 
than an inch, including the claw; these, with the webs and legs, appear 
to have been yellowish, for they have a strong tinge of that colour 
even after drying. The wing appears to exceed the tail above an inch 
and a half when closed, and the two first quills are nearly of the same 
length, from the tips of which to the elbow is eight inches and a half. 
This is another bird of rare occurrence, which has fallen to our lot 
to record in the British Fauna. It was shot on the Thames, near 
Chelsea, and is in the collection of Mr. Plasted, of that place, to whom 
we take this opportunity of expressing our obligations, for having suf- 
fered the bird to travel into Devonshire for the purpose of inspection. 
This specimen of Larus minutus is the first that has, we believe, been 
identified in this country, and is probably extremely rare on any part of 
the continent so far south. It is not in the plumage of maturity, and 
consequently is more interesting, because we perceive the same gradual 
changes as have been noticed in all the species of gulls familiar to us. 
It is in an intermediate state, or first change between the nestling and 
the adult. In the adult state of plumage, the head and beginning of 
the neck are black ; the rest of the neck, and under parts of the body 
white ; the back, scapulars, and coverts of the wings cinereous-grey ; 
