[ 187.] 7. L a r u s b r a c h y r h y n c h u s . (R ichards.) Short-billed Mew-Gull.
Genus, Larus, Lin n .
Ch. Sp. Larus brachyrhynchus, rostro abbreviate crassiusculo, tarso via bi-unciali, remigibus apice coneoloribus;
spatio albo duorum exteriorum abbreviate : raohidibus nigrescentibus.
Sp. Ch . Short-billed Mew-Gull, with a short, thickish bill; a tarsus scarcely two inches long; quills not
tipped with white; a short white space on the two exterior ones, and blackish-shafts.
Our specimen of this Gull is a female, killed on the 23rd of May, 1826, at
Great Bear Lake. Some brown markings on the tertiaries, primary coverts,
and bastard wing, with an imperfect sub-terminal bar on the tail, point it out
as a young bird, most probably commencing its second spring. The rest of its
plumage corresponds with that of L . zonorhynchus, except that it wants the
extreme white tips of the quill feathers, which on the third and following ones are
very conspicuous in L. zonorhynchus. It differs, however, remarkably in its bill
being shorter, though considerably stouter than that of our L . earns, and, like it,
it is wax-yellow, with a bright yellow rictus and point. Its tarsus is nearly one-
third shorter than that of L . zonorhynchus.—Many may be disposed to consider
this and the two preceding Gulls as merely local varieties of L . cam s; and it
might be urged, in support of this opinion, that there are considerable differences
in the length and thickness of the bills of individuals of the common and
winter Gulls killed on the English coasts, which are all usually referred to L.
cams. We have judged it advisable, however, to call the attention of ornithologists
to these American birds, by giving them specific names, leaving it to
future observation to determine whether they ought to retain the rank of species
or be considered as mere varieties.
Dimensions.
Of & female, killed in lat. 65°, May 23.
Length, total .
Inch.
19
Lin.
0 Length of bill to rictus
Inch. Lin.'
. 2 0 Length of inner toe . Inch. Lin, . 1 2
„ of tail . 5 9 „ of tarsus . 1 11 ,, of hind toe . . 0 2
„ of wing . 13 6 ,, of middle toe 1 5 | ,, of its nail . . 0 2
,, of bill above . 1 3 „ of middle nail 0 4 ü
[18 8.] 8. L a r u s t r id a c t y l u s . (Lath.) The Kittiwake.
Genus, Larus, Lin n.
Kittiwake. Penn., Arct. Zool., ii., p. 529, No. 456 ; Suppl., p. 70, winter.
Larus rissa. Idem, Suppl., p. 70.
Tarrock (Larus tridactylus). Idem, p. 533, D.
Mouette tridactyle ( Larus tridactylus). Temm., p. 774.
Larus tridactylus (Kittiwake-Gull). Sab. Greenl. Birds, p. 549, No. 22 ; Suppl. Parry's
First Voy., p. ccv., No. 19. Sab.(J.) Frankl. Journ., p. 695. Richards. App.
Parry’s Second Voy., p. 359.
The Kittiwake abounds in the interior of the fur-countries, on the coasts of the
Pacific, and also; on the shores of the Arctic Seas, where it breeds. The young
appear in considerable numbers in the autumn, on the muddy coasts of Hudson’s
Bay, after which they retire to the southward. Its food consists of small fish and
marine and fresh-water insects.
DESCRIPTION
Of a mature specimen, killed on Melville Peninsula, in July.
Colour.—Mantle bluish-grey ; ends of the five exterior quills and outer web of the
first black; the fourth and fifth have small white tips. Head, neck, rump, tail, and whole
under plumage, white. Bill yellowish. Orbits and inside of the mouth orange-coloured.
Legs blackish.
Form.—Tail two inches longer than the wings. The hind toe replaced by a minute projection,
covered with warty scales like those on the posterior part of the tarsus, and destitute
of a nail. All the toes slender.—R.
“ in winter the hind head and neck are french-grey, and the plumage between the eye
and bill is finely streaked with black.”—“ The young have the above winter dress, with
additional differences : the bill is black instead of yellow; at the back of the neck the feathers
are tipped with black, forming a narrow crescentic patch; a black band crosses the tips of
the wing coverts; primary quills black, with more or less of the inner webs in different specimens
white ; tail tipped for half an inch with black, except the outer feather on each side,
having only a spot on the inner web.”—Capt. Sabine.
Dimensions
Of the mature specimen.
,total. . 15 6 Length of bill to rictus . 2 3 Length of middle toe . . 1
Lin.
5
of tail . . ' 5 4 ,, from nostrils to tip .. 0 8 ,, of its nail . . 0 4i
of wing . 12 0 ,, of naked thigh 0 5 ,, of inner toe . . 1 04 of bill above . . 1 4* ,, of tarsus . 1 4 ,, of its nail . . 0 3 —R.