206 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



the adjoining fields. I regard the Glaucous Gull as a much less 

 shy bird than its congener the Great Black-backed Gull. 



It may be added that Messrs Harvie Brown and Thomson, and 

 Dr Dewar, procured a number of Herring Gulls {L. argentatus). 

 Lesser Black-backed, and Great Black-backed Gulls, in various 

 stages of plumage, from the young of the first year to the end 

 of the fourth. Many of these birds were of great interest, 

 some shewing but the faintest trace of immaturity, and others 

 being beautifully marled all over. Great diversity existed also in 

 their measurements. I particularly notice the sj)ecimens of 

 L. marinus, belonging to Mr George Paterson : one, an adult bird, 

 was in length, 27; wing, 19 J; total expanse, Q2^ inches; while 

 the other, a bird of the first winter, measured in length, 30 ; 

 wing, 21; total expanse, 69| inches. 



With regard to the Iceland Gull, it appears to have been first 

 made known as a distinct species in the Wernerian Memoirs (Vol. 

 iv., p. 507) by Dr Edmondston, who describes one shot by himself 

 in Balta Sound, Shetland, in April, 1821, as being smaller than a 

 Herring Gull, and also refers to another which was shot in the 

 Clyde in December, 1822. The length of this specimen was 22, 

 the breadth, 52 inches. Faber, however, in his account of the 

 Birds of Iceland, published in 1820, had the honour of first 

 distinguishing the species, which he named L. leiicojjtenis. 



Great diff'erences have been observed in the size of individuals 

 of this species. According to Macgillivray, the largest that had 

 come under his notice measured 26 inches in length, and the 

 smallest 20 inches. Of one adult male he gives the length, 24; 

 wing, from flexure, 17 J; breadth, 50 inches. Females smaller, 

 as in the case of the Glaucous Gull. Young measured from 20 to 



23 inches. 



Capt. Sabine, in his "Memoirs of the Birds of Greenland," has 

 evidently described his Arctic variety of the Herring Gull from a 

 bird of this species. He says he should have been disposed to 

 consider the bird as a new and undescribed species, but that 

 Mpns. Temminck had in a personal interview influenced his 

 judgment. Capt. Sabine's measurements are for males — ^average, 



24 inches in length; females rather less: alar extent, 53 to 

 54 inches. 



Fleming's measurements are : 



Length, 24; breadth, 53 inches. 



