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Show 292 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE GREY-CAPPED GULLS. [May 5, Grey-capped Gulls for which Bonaparte formed the subgenus Cirrhocephalus (Naumannia, 1854, Heft iv. p. 213). There are two closely allied species, which during the breeding-season, and, as I believe, throughout a considerable portion of the year, bear a hood of a pale French grey, slightly darker at the margins, round the nape and throat, viz. :- LARUS PHJEOCEPHALUS, SW. B. W. Afr. ii. p. 245, pi. 29 (originally written L. poiocephalus), a native of West Africa and the interior up to Lake Ngami; and LARUS CIRRHOCEPHALUS, Vieillot, N. D. xxi. p. 500; Gal. Ois. ii. p. 223, pi. 289 ; the Gaviota cenicienta of Azara, found in Brazil and the States of La Plata. In their general appearance these Gulls closely resemble each other; and both Blasius and Schlegel have considered them to be identical- an opinion the value of which is somewhat impaired by the fact of their having confounded one or both of these species with others from which they are most certainly distinct. This has doubtless arisen from the want of a sufficient series in which the localities have been duly recorded ; for specimens of the birds in question, and of those with which they have been confounded, are extremely rare in collections ; and it is only recently that I have been able to obtain such a series as would justify my speaking with some confidence on the subject. First, as regards the distinctness of the African and the American forms, I have before me the following specimens:- LARUS PH^EOCEPHALUS. Senegambia, Swainson's coll., Cambridge Mus. Believed to be the type : ad. Walvisch Bay (Andersson), probably in October. Ad.; full hood. Lake Ngami (Chapman, May 1863). Hood slightly imperfect. Wing 12-5, tar. 1-8-2, middle toe and nail 17, bill" 1-4. Colour of legs and bill orange-red. LARUS CIRRHOCEPHALUS. Buenos Ayres, 3&2 acU several specimens, those killed in April and November having the grey cap equally defined ; also immature specimens obtained in April, and in which the grey hood is appearing, although the dark bar to the tail and the brown feathers on the shoulders still remain. 2 . Chorillos, near Lima, lat. 12° 10' S.; the first recorded instance of its occurrence on the Pacific coast. This was shot by a friend resident at Lima, whom I had asked to collect Gulls &c. Wing 13-13-5, tar. 2-2-2-4, middle toe and nail 2, bill 6'1. Bill legs, and feet lake-red ; in a very old male of the brightest crimson. The same description would apply to either: the hood pale grey with a dark margin ; the wings and mantle rather darker than the |
