Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 24. (ca. 1799). Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40. / https://ansp.org/research/library/archives/0000-0099/coll0040/
Additional Source Text:
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) wrote, in his 24th Lecture (ca. 1799): "[No.] 563. Small gull. Bill 1 ¼ Inch long & black; nostrils pervious; forehead, neck, breast belly and tail, white; light grey on the head, mixed with black spots; back and wing coverts light grey; wing quills white margined with black, tipped with white, extending 2 Inches beyond the tail; legs orange colour. This may be a young bird; probably that head in another moulting season would have become black. I cannot assimiliate it to any described. Therefore at present I have it under the title Small." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Notes:
Peale's description is a reasonable match for this rare species (in eastern North America) in its second winter plumage.
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Little Gull
Current Scientific Name
Laridae | Hydrocoloeus minutus
