twelve inches. Bewick’s figure- of the Black-headed G fill'
represents a bird -in this state of plumage ; the*- lowèr figure
in the illustration:-here given i$ iconic®-adult malêlHrdJj^*|
year old^ killed at the nesL in the breeding-season, but still,
exhibiting, some sliighiNraces óf immature'colours in the few
brown .feathers-* dnl the anterioi part of ’the* cT jn thé
jnarrow black tip s fo th e tail-feathers.- ' ;
.The assumption of the dark colour on the.' head in thé
spring' is very rapid.-; AiGull tin thercollection;- at * thê^Gar-
"dens of .the Zoological Society^ jhe^n^f somter^èa,i^ • sin.cé^o
change colour OErth'e héad^%®mfwhitè to dark' brówn/idn^the
11th of March ; ;it was a change of colour,* and not an a ^ o f
moulting, no feather was shed,.< and the; change was’completed
in five days?«5 Another bird, some' sëaspns afterwards^! ’had
not completed-the dark colour tilhfhe beginning^!- Mayjfbut
the time required for thëmhangé was in^ndt'ëdsö?
Thé upper figure iu the' illustration.'hefë giveü^iSrfrofeèa
young bird of the^yëab killed, ihAugugt;;_ at_ which .period the
head vis-marked with greyish-brown, on a ^grountMof white;
the back, scapulars, smallef wing=jd®vëi#’,^and tK&tertials
mottled Élth brown ; ■ greater c^v.ms ^®d. Jj^dnèa^é^ French
grey ^primaries .as in the, adailt bird; tail-feathers * white,
with a broad bar of black at theJend; beak, É^s,r and feet
yellowish-brown.
Bewick’s figure óf the Red-legged Gull is from athif-duh
the plumage of its first winter,!' as indicated by^tke markings
on the anterior part of the wing; and the narrows black bar at
the end of the tail. Injthe^taruly adult bird in. winter;the
head is- but slightly marked-with a dusky patch at thelear-
coverts; the- back and wings* uniform French 'g£ey.; the
wing-primaries as already described,;.u tail-coverts and -tail-
feathers pure white ; neck, breast, and all the under surface
of the body, also pure-white ; bill, legs, and feet red.
NATA W i lE f . LA111DÆ.
T H E LAUGHING GULL.
^Laughing ( | |oe ^ P e n n . B rit. Zool. voll ii. p. 193.
'.-jf&r- r \i,i ' ;MÜn t . O rn ith . D ie t.
* - $ Ü I * I E y H .B ^M ^ B r i t . A n . p . 142.
V " ,, ,, J enyns, B rit. V e rt. p. 2 7 3 .
X^ma x &G%iiLD,^Birds o f E u to p e . p t. Xxiii!
*Lcërus ,%• Mouette a capuchon plombé, T emm. M a n . d ’O m ith .v o l. ii. p . 779«
a n d vol. iv. p . 4 8 3 .
T his speciesp?called the Laughing Gull by Catesby in his
natural history of Carolina, was made known as a visiter to
the British shpges'by. Colonel Montagu, who, in his Ornithological
Dictionary, says, “ In the month of August, 1774,
we saw fiv^jof them together feeding in a pool in the Shing-
ley Flats near Winch elsèa; two only were black on the
head, the others were,- mottled all over with brown. One of
them was shot'; but, although the remaining four continued