Larus leucopterus, Bonap. Syn. p. 361.
Larus leucopterus, White-winged Silvery Gull, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 418.
White-winged Silvery Gull, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 305.
White-winged Silvery Gull, Larus leucopterus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 553.
450. 10. Larus occidentalis, Aud. Western Gull.
Not figured.
Bill robust, compressed, yellow, with an orange-red patch toward the end of the lower mandible; iris light hazel; feet flesh-coloured; head, neck, lower parts, rump, and tail pure white; back and wings light greyish-blue, of a deeper tint than in L. argentatus; edges of the wings and extremities of the quills white; first seven quills greyish-black toward the end, that colour including the outer webs and the greater part of the inner of the two first, and on the rest gradually diminishing, so as on the seventh merely to form a subterminal bar; the first quill with a patch of white on both webs near the end; the tips of all white. Young male in winter with the bill black, feet flesh-coloured; upper part and sides of the head, hind part and sides of the neck, light brownish-grey, faintly mottled and streaked with white; upper parts in general greyish-brown, confusedly mottled with whitish; rump white barred with brown; primary quills greyish-black, without white at the end; secondary quills similar, more grey toward the base, margined and tipped with white, undulated with brown; tail greyish-black, tipped with whitish; lower parts greyish-white, mottled with greyish-brown. This species, which is very intimately allied to Larus argentatus, is remarkable for the great depth and comparative shortness of its bill.
Male, 27, wing 171/4, but the feathers not complete.
Western Gull, Larus occidentalis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 320.
451. 11. Larus argentatus, Brunnich. Herring or Silvery Gull.
Plate CCXCI. Adult and Young.
Bill robust, compressed, gamboge-yellow, with an orange-red patch toward the end of the lower mandible; iris silvery-white; feet flesh-coloured; head, neck, lower parts, rump, and tail pure white; back and wings light greyish-blue; edges of wing and extremities of quills white; the first six quills brownish-black towards the end, that colour including the outer webs and the greater part of the inner of the first two, and on the rest gradually diminishing, so as on the sixth merely to form a bar; the first quill with a patch of white about an inch and a half long on both webs near the end, the second with a circular patch on the inner web; the tips of all white. The terminal markings of the outer quills vary. Young with the bill brownish-black, paler at the base of the lower mandible, feet purplish flesh-colour; general colour of plumage light purplish-grey, the upper part of the head darker, the lower parts mottled with pale yellowish-grey; feathers of upper parts and upper tail-coverts irregularly edged and barred with greyish-white; primary quills greyish-black, terminally margined with whitish; tail of the same colour, its base and the outer webs of the lateral feathers irregularly mottled with whitish, the tips brownish-white.
Male, 23, 53. Young, in winter, 183/4, 51.