. A history of British birds : the figures engraved on wood . .2 A 188 BRITISH BIRDS. THE BROWN TERN. (Sterna nigraf Lin. Sterna Fufcay R^dLj. —Brown Tern,Willonghby. Brown Gull, Pennant.) The whole under side white -, the upper brown ;the wings partly brown, partly ash-colour : the headblack: the tail not forked. These birds fly in com-panies. This short and imperfect account is all that ornitho-logists have been enabled to give of this doubtful species,which has found its way into notice merely from thecommunications of Mr Johnson* to Mr Ray, copied bythe latter into his Synopsis of Birds, &
. A history of British birds : the figures engraved on wood . .2 A 188 BRITISH BIRDS. THE BROWN TERN. (Sterna nigraf Lin. Sterna Fufcay R^dLj. —Brown Tern,Willonghby. Brown Gull, Pennant.) The whole under side white -, the upper brown ;the wings partly brown, partly ash-colour : the headblack: the tail not forked. These birds fly in com-panies. This short and imperfect account is all that ornitho-logists have been enabled to give of this doubtful species,which has found its way into notice merely from thecommunications of Mr Johnson* to Mr Ray, copied bythe latter into his Synopsis of Birds, &c. * Mr R. Johnson, the correspondent, friend, and assistant ofthe irnmortal Ray, was vicar of Brignal in Yorkshire. He diedthere on the 7th of May, 1695, aged 66 BRITISH BIRDS. 189 « OF THE GULL. The bill is strong and straight, but bent downwardsat the point: the nostrils are pervious, oblong, and nar-row, and are placed in the middle ; the lower mandiblehas an angular prominence on the under side, whichtapers towards, and forms its tip : the tongue is a littlecloven. The body is cloathed with a great quantity ofdown and feathers, which, together with the large headand long wings, give these birds an appearance of bulk,without a proportionate weight. Their legs are small,naked above the knees : feet webbed, and the back toedetached, and very small. This genus, which some naturalists have described asconsisting of about nineteen species, besides a few varie-ties, is numerously dispersed over every quarter of theknown world, and is met with, at certain seasons, in someparts, in such multitudes, that the whole surface of theground is covered with their dung : and their eggs aregathered by the inhabitants in prodigious assemble t
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