Ross's Gull

SCI Name:  Rhodostethia rosea
Protonym:  Larus roseus Mem.Wern.Nat.Hist.Soc. 5 p.249
Taxonomy:  Charadriiformes / Laridae / Rhodostethia
Taxonomy Code:  rosgul
Type Locality:  No locality = Melville Peninsula, based on specimen taken there on Parry''s second voyage.
Author:  MacGillivray, W
Publish Year:  1824
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

RHODOSTETHIA
(Laridae; Ϯ Ross's Gull R. rosea) Gr. ῥοδον rhodon  rose; στηθος stēthos  breast; "GENUS CLIII.  RHODOSTETHIA.  ROSY-GULL.   A small gull, singular from the cuneated form of its tail, and remarkable in other respects, has, not improperly, I think, been generically distinguished, and most deservedly named after Captain James Ross, who has contributed so much to our knowledge of the natural productions of those desolate regions of the north-west, among which it has been his fate to sojourn. But as the generic name Rossia, which the Prince of Canino has proposed for it, has been given by Mr. Owen to a Cephalopodous Molluscum, I prefer that of Rhodostethia.   Body moderate; neck rather short; head ovate.  Bill short, rather slender; upper mandible with the dorsal line straight for half its length, arcuato-decurvate toward the end; lower mandible with the intercrural space narrow, the knob slight, the dorsal line concave, the tip narrow.  Legs short; tibia bare for a very short space; tarsus rather stout, anteriorly scutellate, rough behind; first toe short, with a large curved claw; anterior toes moderate, with the webs entire; claws rather large, arched, compressed, acute.  Plumage soft and full; wings long, rather narrow, pointed; tail cuneate, of twelve feathers, of which the central are much longer than the lateral.  Only one species is known.   310. RHODOSTETHIA ROSSI.  ROSS'S ROSY-GULL." (Macgillivray 1842); "Rhodostethia Macgillivray, Man. Brit. Orn., 2, 1842, p. 252. Type, by original designation and monotypy, Larus rossii Richardson = Larus roseus Macgillivray." (Peters 1934, II, 324).
Var. Rhodostetia.
Synon. Rossia.

rosea
L. roseus  rosy, rose-coloured  < rosa  rose.
● ex “Moineau du Sénégal” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 230, fig. 2 (syn. Estrilda troglodytes).
● ?ex “Crimson-bellied Flycatcher” of Latham 1787 (Petroica).