RICHARDSON’S JAGER. 
73 
twelfths in width, then enlarging into an oblong cloaca 10 twelfths in 
breadth ; considerably flattened ; the rings 98, unossified, of the same 
structure as in the Gulls. Bronchi rather wide, of 20 half rings. Muscles 
as in the Gulls. 
The digestive organs of this bird differ from those of the Gulls only in 
having the coeca much more elongated ; the cloaca oblong, instead of being 
globular, and the stomach less muscular. The tongue differs greatly from 
that of either the Gulls or Terns. 
RICHARDSON’S JAGER. 
Lestris Richardsonii, Swains. 
PLATE CCCCLII. — Male and Young. 
This bird, though rare on the coast of the United States, visits the shores 
of Massachusetts and Maine, where, during winter, it is seen over the bays 
and inlets, to which various species of Gulls also resort at the same season. 
It is more shy and difficult to be approached than the Pomarine Jager. Its 
flight is rapid and greatly protracted ; and, like the other species of this 
genus, it harasses the smaller Gulls and Terns, forcing them to disgorge their 
food. Dr. Richardson informs us that it breeds in considerable numbers 
in the barren grounds, at a distance from the coast, and that it feeds on 
testaceous mollusca, which are plentiful in the small lakes of the fur 
countries. I am unable to afford any information respecting its habits ; 
nor can I state decidedly the number of eggs which it lays, although I have 
procured several of them. They measure two inches and three-eighths in 
length, by one inch and five-eighths in breadth, are of an oval rather 
pointed form, and have a dull greyish-yellow ground, patched with umber 
and faint purple, the markings closer towards the larger end. 
Lestris Richardsonii, Richardson's Jager , Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., voL 
ii. p. 433. 
Richardson’s Jager, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 319. 
Richardson’s Jager, Lestris Richardsonii , And. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 503. 
Vol. VIII.— 10 
