Larus ridibundus, Lin.
981. :- Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 832 ; Butler, Deccan ; Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 439 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 319.
THE LAUGHING GULL.
Length, 15 to 17 ; wing, 13 ; tail, 5 ; tarsus, 1.75 ; bill at front, 1.75.
Bill deep red ; irides dark brown; legs and feet deep red.
Head and upper part of neck deep reddish-brown, more extended in front and on the sides ; lower neck white ; eyelids white ; upper plumage ashy ; upper tail-coverts and tail white; first four primaries white, tipped and edged with black within, and the first with the outer web black ; fifth and sixth nearly all black; the rest of the quills grey ; beneath, from the breast white, faintly tinged rosy.
In winter plumage, the head is white with some dusky markings on the occiput and ears.
The Laughing Gull is common all along the coast, and has been frequently observed on the larger lakes inland.
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