The Black-headed Gull. BIRDS. — -The Auctio Skua. 429 
and tipped with white ; and the lower surface wliite. 
The Little Gull is rather a rare bird in this country, but 
is more common in Southern Europe. It is said to 
feed upon insects and worms. 
THE BLACK-HEADED GULL {Xema rklihimda),\'i\\\ch 
is widely distributed in the northern parts of the Old 
World, is abundant throughout the year on our low 
marshy coasts, where it breeds. It is frequently found 
at great distances inland, not only following the ploughs 
to pick up insects and their larva?, but even taking up 
its abode upon lakes and other large sheets of water. 
This bird is about sixteen inches in length, and has the 
head and upper part of the neck dark brown, the back 
and wings French gray, with some of the primaries 
edged with black, and the rest of the pluniage pure 
white ; the bill and feet are bright red. The Black- 
headed Gull feeds on small fishes, insects, and worms. 
Its flight is light and buoyant, and its note is a hoarse 
cackle, having some resemblance to a laugh, whence 
the specific name of the bird is derived. The nest of 
this species is made amongst the herbage of the marshes 
which it frequents. 
THE LAUGHING GULL {Xema atricilla), a rery simi- 
lar species to the preceding, both in appearance and 
habits, is abundant on the North American coasts, and 
also visits the European shores. 
THE KITTIWAKE {Rism tridactyla') is an example 
of a small group of Gulls, in which the hinder toe 
is represented only by a small tubercle, without 
any trace of a claw. It is abundant on many parts of 
the British coasts, and extends hence to the highest 
northern latitudes. The Kittiwake has the plumage of 
the back and wings delicate French gray, the outer 
margin of the first primary and the tips of the succeed- 
ing ones black, and the head, neck, and lower surface 
[)ure white ; the bill is greenish-jmllow, with the inte- 
rior of the mouth orange. The wings are very long 
and pointed, crossing, when closed, above the tail. 
This bird breeds on the ledges of lofty and precipitous 
cliffs, forming a nest of sea-weeds, and usually laying 
three eggs. 
THE IVORY GULL {PagopMla ehurned) is distin- 
guished by the pure and delicate white of the whole 
of its j)lumage ; it has a yellow bill with a greenish 
base, and black feet. When alive the plumage of 
this bird is said to exhibit a delicate rosy tint, which 
vanishes soon after it is killed. The whole length is 
from sixteen to eighteen inches. The arctic seas are 
the chief resort of the Ivory Gull, which is very rarely 
seen so far south as the British islands. Notwith- 
standing the delicacy of its appearance, it is a most 
voracious bird, and by no means particular in its choice 
of food ; like the Fulmar it greedily devours any float- 
ing carrion or other animal matter, and is a constant 
attendant upon the whalers dttring the operation of 
flensing or cutting the blubber off the whales. 
THE COMMON SKUA {Lestris cataractes). — The 
Skuas, although nearly allied to the ordinary gulls, 
are distinguished from them by the possession of a 
more powerful, hooked beak, in which the base of the 
upper mandible is covered with a cere, and by their 
large and strongly-hooked claws. These characters 
indicate very predaceous habits, and the Skuas are to 
be reckoned amongst the most raptorial of the aquatic 
birds. 
The Common Skua is an inhabitant of the arctia 
seas, and visits the British shores chiefly in the winter. 
This, or a very nearly allied species, is also found 
abundantly about the Falkland Islands, the Straits ot 
Magellan, and other parts of the antarctic ocean. It 
is of a dark-brown colour, slightly variegated with 
reddish-brown ; the primaries are marked with dirty 
white near their base ; the two middle tail-feathers are 
scarcely longer than the rest ; and the bill and feet are 
black. The length of the bird is about two feet. 
The Skua is generally seen in pairs. Its flight is 
exceedingly rapid and pow’erfiil, and it avails itself of 
this advantage to chase the smaller gulls and compel 
them to give up the fishes which they have just caught, 
rarely taking the trouble of fishing for itself. It also 
preys upon its smaller neighbours, and displays its 
analogy with the Kaptorial birds by tearing its prey to 
pieces rvith its bill, securing it the, while by means of 
the crooked claws with which its toes are armed. This 
bird breeds upon the rocks, and lays two or three eggs. 
It defends its young with great courage, and will even 
beat oft’ the eagle if he comes too near its place of abode. 
THE ARCTIC SKUA [Lestris parasiticus') is consi- 
derably more abundant in Britain than the preceding 
species, and even breeds on our northern shores. It 
is readil}’ distinguished by its much smaller size, by 
the elongation of the central feathers of the tail, and 
by the pale colour of the lower surface. In its habits 
it resembles the Common Skua. Two other species 
— the PoMAiiiNK Skua [L. pomarinus) and Buffon’s 
Skua [L. Buffonii) — are found on our coasts ; the 
latter is a very small species, measuring only twelve 
inches in length to the extremity of the very elongated 
middle tail-feathers ; it has the neck and breast white. 
THE BLACK SKIMMER [Rhynchops nigra). — The 
preceding species, with many others scattered over 
the seas of nearly the whole world, may all be re- 
garded as true Gulls; but we come now to an example 
of a small subordinate group, which differs from 
them in some very peculiar characters. The most 
striking peculiarity of the Skimmers is to be found 
in the form of their bill, w'hich suffices to distin- 
guish them at once from all other birds. This organ 
is elongated and compressed, almost resembling a 
pair of blades placed one above the other ; the upper 
mandible is considerably shorter than the lower one, 
which consequently projects some distance beyond it. 
The wings are long and pointed, indicating great 
power of flight, and the tail is forked. The Black 
Skimmer is an iidiabitant of the coasts of America, 
from the Straits of Magellan to the United States. 
It is about nineteen inches long, black above, with 
a white band on each wing, and white beneath ; the 
bill and legs are red. Supported on its long and 
pointed wings, which sometimes extend fully forty 
inches, the Skimmer darts swiftly along the surface 
of the ocean, dipping the extremity of its curious bill 
into the water as it moves along, for the purpose of 
capturing the small fishes and Crustacea upon which it 
chiefly feeds. This, however, is not, according to 
Lesson, the only use of the bill ; that writer states 
