44 ^ The Hijiory e/'AMIMALS. 
and belly are grey, and the throat has alfo fome greyilhnefs, but lefs than the others 
in it; the back is of a fomewhat dufky brownifh-grey, and the upper part of it is 
darker than the reft ; the feathers of the wings are irregularly coloured with blacky 
grey, and white j fome of the feathers are wholly black, except their tips, which are 
white, and in others the colours are laid on more and more irregularly : the tail is mo¬ 
derately long, and the feathers which compofe it are white, irregularly clouded with 
grey, brown, and black: the tips of many of them are black, and the upper edges 
of almoft all are of a pure white* It is Angular, that the birds of the firft year’s 
growth, in this fpecies, are extreamly different from thofe of a more advanced age; 
indeed, the variegation is fo great, that it would be fcarce poffible for a perfon, not in- 
, formed of it, to know them for the fame : they are all over of the colour of the 
wood-cock, or variegated with clouded fpots of grey, white, and brown. 
The legs are fhort, and not yellow, as in the preceding fpecies, but of a dufky 
grey, with a tinge of bluifh and olive. 
This fpecies is very frequent about our coafts, and breeds with us. The eggs are 
large, and there are ufually about four in the neft. All the writers on birds have de¬ 
ferred it. Ray calls it Larus cinereus maximus ; and moft of the others, Larus cine- 
reus and Larus major. As is is often feen fwimming and feeding promifcuoufly with 
the former fpecies, the people about our fea-coafts have an opinion of their being the 
male and female of the fame kind, but this is erroneous. 
Larus dorfo cinereo , collo maculato , 
The Larus, with a grey back> and a Jpotted neck. 
This is of about the fize of a common tame pigeon : the head is fmall, and depreffed 
on the crown ; the eyes are large, and their iris is of a pale hazel: the beak is confide- 
rably large ; the upper chap is narrow, but arcuated and acute, and the eminence on 
the under chap, which is the diftinguifhing chara&eriftic of the genus, is fo fmall in 
this fpecies, that it is fcarce diftinguifhable, unlefs when nearly examined : the whole 
beak is of a whitifh colour, except at the tip, where it is yellowifh. 
The head and the upper part of the neck are white, fpotted with moderately large 
and irregular fpots of brown, but the lower part of the neck, down quite to the bot¬ 
tom, is limply of a pure white : the back is of a dufky grey, down quite to the ori¬ 
gin of the tail, but the feathers which cover the bafe of that are white : the throat, 
the breaft, and belly are all over of the moft pure and bright white: the tail is alfo of 
a pure fnow-white $ and the covering feathers of the under part of the wing are white, 
but thofe of the upper part are grey. 
The wings are large, and extend to a great meafure from tip to tip : the long fea¬ 
thers of them are variegated with bkek, white, and grey; the feathers which cover 
the upper part of the thighs are variegated with grey and white : the legs are mode¬ 
rately long, and of a pale greenifh-grey colour: the toes are long ; the middle one has 
the claw acute, or fharpened on the exterior fide 5 the hinder toe is very fmall. 
This is frequent about our coafts, and moft: of the writers on birds have deferibed 
it. They have called it Larus cinereus vulgaris and Larus cinereus minor 5 the latter is 
the name given it by Willughby and others, the former by Aldrovand. 
%\)t letter dSuli, 
Larus corpore toto cinereo-fufco . 
The brownifh-grey Larus . 
%\yt Deep, step, 
£>ea*maU. 
This is of the fize of a moderately grown pullet: the head is fmall, and flatted 
on the crown ; the eyes are large, and very bright, and have a mixture of a pale 
hazel and a gold yellow in the iris: the beak is large, and very much arcuated, for 
one of this fpecies: the upper chap is turned down for fome length at the end, and the 
eminence 
