. The birds of Europe . rmed with strong hooked talons, that on the inner toe being the most formidableIts general colour is a dark umber brown, varied on the back with light shades of reddish brown ; the neckmarked with elongated lines of dusky yellow; the first quill-feather of the wings the longest, the upper partof the webs and shafts white; the lower part dark brown; tail cuneiform, the two centre feathers projectingabout an inch beyond the others. The egg of this bird resembles that of the Herring Gull in shape andcolour, but is rather smaller, measuring two inches and a half in length b
. The birds of Europe . rmed with strong hooked talons, that on the inner toe being the most formidableIts general colour is a dark umber brown, varied on the back with light shades of reddish brown ; the neckmarked with elongated lines of dusky yellow; the first quill-feather of the wings the longest, the upper partof the webs and shafts white; the lower part dark brown; tail cuneiform, the two centre feathers projectingabout an inch beyond the others. The egg of this bird resembles that of the Herring Gull in shape andcolour, but is rather smaller, measuring two inches and a half in length by one and three quarters inbreadth, olive brown blotched and spotted with darker brown. We have figured an adult male, two thirds its natural size. In our description of the Pomarine Gull we omitted to notice the egg of that bird, which, as figured byNaumann and Buhle, measures two inches three lines in length, and one inch eight lines in breadth ; of a darkolive green, blotched and spotted with two shades of red POMARINE GULL. Lestris pomarinus, pomarin. Among the parasitic Gulls, the Lestris pomarinus is the second in size, and possesses much the same habits asthe preceding- species, preferring a life of plunder to one of quiet industry : hence has arisen the generic titleof the family, the word lestris signifying a robber. We are indebted more particularly to M. Temminck (whoappears to have been the first to characterize it,) for our knowledge of the present species, which, from thevarious changes it undergoes, had previously occasioned no little confusion. It is an inhabitant of the morenorthern regions of both continents ; but on the European side the rocky and extensive coasts of Norway andSweden are the only localities where it is supposed to incubate. The adult birds appear to confine themselvesto the districts where they build, and are rarely met with on our shores, or those of the southern countries ofEurope. The young-, however, wander very e
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