2l8 
Brewster on an apparently New Gull . 
[October 
height at nostril, .56; do. at angle, .60; tarsus, 2.10; middle toe and 
claw, 2.15; tail, 6.90. 
Adult, sex? Bay of Fundy. Wing, 16,00; culmen, 1.88; bill from 
nostril, .88; gape, 2.75; height at nostril, .66 ; do. at angle, 66; tarsus, 
2.25; middle toe and claw, 2.30; tail, 6.50. 
The chief characters which distinguish L. kumlieni from L. 
glaucescens are as follows : Smaller size ; a lighter mantle ; and 
very different color and pattern of the primaries. The pri- 
maries of glaucescens are essentially con color with the mantle, 
and this coloring — uniform nearly to the tips of the feathers, 
where it changes abruptly into white — gives the folded wing a 
generally dark appearance relieved only by the rounded white 
apical spots which are conspicuous on all the feathers. In kum- 
licni , on the contrary, the general effect of the wing is white, the 
pale pearly -blue of the mantle, although present on some of the 
feathers, being mostly concealed, and the “pattern” produced by 
markings many shades darker than any color found elsewhere on 
the bird ; while, owing to the general extension of white, there 
are usually only two or three primaries which have well-defined 
apical spots.* 
These characteristics are pretty uniformly maintained among 
the four specimens before me, but there is some individual as well 
as seasonal variation. Thus Mr. Merrill’s bird differs from the 
type in having a more decided approach to a sub-terminal bar on 
the second primary, where a transverse spot of gray on the inner 
web is continued across to the shaft but fails to connect with a 
smaller corresponding spot on the edge of the outer web. It 
also has a dusky spot in front of the eye and some obscure 
mottling on the crown and nape — probably seasonal (winter) 
characteristics. 
Mr. Smith’s specimen is evidently immature. Its entire head 
and neck, and even the breast, are mottled with dusky, and the 
bill is greenish at the base. The mantle, however, is perfectly 
pure and the wings show no traces of immaturity. The bill is 
much weaker and more depressed than in the other examples. 
The pattern of the primaries is essentially the same, but there 
is a greater extension of the gray, especially on the first two 
* These differences, of course, will only serve to distinguish adults. I have not seen 
the young of kumlieni , but Kumlien states that it is “even darker than the young of L. 
argentatus , the primaries and tail being very nearly blackl' If this be true it can be read- 
ily separated from young glaucescens , which is much lighter than argentatus. 
