brilliancy according' to, ago and season ; claws black. The
whole length; of;the specimen here figured' and described
fourteen inches and a half to the end of the ta il; thawing,
from the carpal joint to the; end of the first quill-feather
eleven inches. Males are'%rather larger' and' brighter in
colour than the, females.
ill In birds which are not fully mature, the black loral streaks
are less defined; .the grey of the forehead-and threat is Jess
pronounced,' and the general tint ifl s browner. 1 Birds ,of, the
first..year have very little white onIthe .forehead; the mantle
and wing-coverts are of a lighter brown, the secondaries-and
tail-feathers showing slight bars ,of umber-brown' hear the
tips; under part's pale brown. - -
The Editor considers "that „thefe/isr .-only .one' species pf
|arge Muddy, to which'ahout a. dozen.different specific names
have been applied;: Mr. R. B. Sharpe distinguishes^jn
addition to the above %g&fAnous supefciMosus -ef- the coast pf
Gpntral America and, the Autille's;' A. plufflb$igul<$y,s of.Jhe
fled Sea; and A. gjilapqg&Qsis of the Galapagos Archipelago
(Phil, Trans; clxviii. pp'. 4=63-4691^3^ genus also,-contains
twft very iistinct and Smaller spCcies:—Atir0^l§^gi0^ » ( and
A.’te^UirQstfia, tfie former having a-wide intertropipal range;
the latter restricted, so far as is known, fpfJbe. district between
the f|ed Pea and Australia ; and a doubtfully 'distfnejbSpecies,
A. leiicoGqpiilus; ■ opcjirs in' Australian 'an'd Polynesian :5fa$prs.
There are also two smahi’and very clg^ly-jallied grey-mantled
species ■vA- ecsrideus of the tropical;Pacific,; and,^.^gfteveus
of jjastern Australasia. ’
fiiAWI-M. F LARI DM.
\ Xe m a Sabine *).
SABINE’S" GTOL.
r Lams '■S.qbiii/i.- b
Xema, Leach +. -—Bijl rather shorter than the head, moderately stout, the
ripper’ mandible decuived from beyond the nostrils to the tip,1 th'e gonys angu-
lated ;and' advancing - upwards ; nostrils basal, lateral, linear. • Legs moderately
long ; the lower part of; th e tjhiae bare for,some distance; tarsi tolerably strong;;
three ,t4es.in.frpfit entirely.palmated, hind toe small, elevated. Wings long, the
firsfquilLfeather th e.lon g est., Tadl distfyictly forfted. “ ‘
The prominent angle at the ‘Symphisis-of-the-under mandible
; * the ' extent" of^the palmatefi- membrane | between -the
foes, and the -'almost1 square tail observed,’more, or less, in
some of the; ’ Terns,' indicate a degree-oft connection with the
'Gulls; and the Gull - here - first inserted, by its forked'tail,
>ft#fiibits^dh-esnpoin4',iOfi;resemblance to the -greater number
* Larue Sabini, Joseph Sabine, Trans. Linn. Stc-ygig. p.S^^riSh kox. (1.818b
Leaoh ; J. Ross, in’ Ross’s Voy. A p p .^ |p .' lviLqllSl®. The .genus
has ’been*-improperly made, hyj others,- to inolhdej the- SHi^ll»hooded-species*-and
also;some of those -vvithout hoods. -