BIRDS-LARIDAE—RISSA. 
853 
opinion, must give place to that of Ord, cited above ; he also designates it as the “ Banded-tail 
Tern.” To determine what species was described under the above name (if it was not distinct) 
has long been considered a problem which it was very desirable to solve ; it agrees in every 
particular with specimens of the young of bonapartei, now under examination. Mr. Ord’s 
description is as follows : 
u Beneath pure white ; above blue ash ; below the auriculars a patch of dark slate ; tail 
white, short, almost even, crossed by a dark brown band ; a line of brown from the shoulder of 
the wing to the tertials. Weight full five ounces.” 
The slender and tern-like form of the bill probably induced Mr. Ord to put it in Sterna. 
Note by Dr. Suckley .—“Abundant on Puget’s Sound, in the neighborhood of which I obtained 
several specimens. This species is the only gull commonly eaten by the Nisqually Indians. I 
broiled one of these birds and found it about equal, in gastronomic qualities, to the Rallus 
crepitans. ’ ’ 
List of specimens. 
Catal. 
No. 
Sex. 
Locality. 
Wlien col¬ 
lected. 
Whence obtained. 
Orig’l 
No. 
Collected by— 
Length. 
Stretch 
of wings. 
Wing. 
Remarks. 
Cab. G-. N. Lawrence. 
991 
6927 
7934 
<? 
32 
7393 
6467 
6468 
5569 
14.00 
32.00 
10.00 
Byes bl’k, legs yellow. 
0 
139 
13.00 
10.25 
6469 
Puget’s Sound, W. T ... 
Aug. —, 1856 
558 
14.50 
30.00 
9.25 
14.00 
10.00 
8432 
o 
Sept. —, 1857 
Aug. 30, 1857 
8434 
8438 
9 
.do. 
12.00 
27.00 
9.50 
CHROICOCEPHALUS MINUTUS, Bruch. 
The Little Gull. 
Larus minutus, Pallas, Reise, III, 702. —Bonap. Syn. 1828, No. 292. —Rich. & Sw. F. B. A. II, 1831, 426. — Nutt. 
Man. II, 1834, 289. 
Chroicocephalus minutus, Bruch, Cab. Jour. 1855, 290. 
Sp. Ch.— Mult. Plead and upper part of the neck black ; a white crescent behind the eyes ; part of the lower neck and 
under plumage roseate white ; rump and tail pure white ; back and wings of a pure and very pale bluish gray ; primaries and 
secondaries ash gray tipped with white ; bill deep lake red; iris dark brown; legs and feet carmine. Length, about 11^ 
inches. 
Ilab .—Arctic America? Europe. 
There is no specimen in the collection from North America, although a fine series from 
Europe has been presented to the Smithsonian Institution by the Norwich Museum, England. 
RISSA, Leach. 
Rissa, Leach, Steph. Gen. Zool. XIII, 1825, 180. Type Larus tridactylus, L. 
Ch. —Bill rather long, strong, and much compressed ; culmen straight at base, curved from the nostrils to the tip ; nostrils 
lateral and longitudinal ; wings long and pointed ; tail even ; tarsi rather short; toes slender and united by a full web ; hind 
toe rudimentary or very small. 
