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In the adult bird the head of L. melanocephalus in the breeding-season is black, not brown as in L. ridibundus, and the first three primaries are white with the exception of a narrow streak of black on the outer web of the first, and not white with a black margin as in L. ridibundus.
BROWN-HEADED GULL. Larus ridibundus, Linnaeus. French, "Mouette rieuse." This pretty little Gull is a common autumn and winter visitant to all the Islands, remaining on to the spring, but never breeding in any of them, though a few young and non-breeding birds may be seen about at all times of the summer, especially about the harbour.
Howard Saunders has given plates of the first three primaries of L. melanocephalus and L. ridibundus, both being from birds of the year shot about March, in his paper on the Larinae, published in the 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society' for the year 1878. LITTLE GULL. Larus minutus, Pallas. French, "Mouette pygmée."
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