70 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV. 



THE BIRDS OF THE MADHUBANI SUB-DIVISION OF THE DAE- 



BHANGA DISTRICT, TIRHUT, WITH NOTES ON SPECIES 



NOTICED ELSEWHERE IN THE DISTRICT. 



By C. M. Inglis. 



Part VI. 



{Continued from page 111 of Vol. NIV.) 



Order— GAVLE. 



Family Laridw. 



(254) Larus ichthyaetus.— The Great Black-headed Gull. 



Blanford, No. 1489 ; Hume, No. 979. 



A rare gull in the district. Though I heard from one of my men about 

 a large gull several times it was not till the 18th of last December that I 

 obtained one. A mir-shikar in my employ brought me a live one -which had 

 got snared in a noose at the Maiser Chaur. I kept it for several days in my 

 water aviary, but it died. All gulls are known here as " Kheir." 

 (255) L. ridieundus. — The Laughing Gull. 

 Blanford, No. 1490 ; Hume, No. 981. 

 This species is also rather rare. I have only succeeded in getting three 

 specimens, one being in breeding plumage which was got on the 11th March. 

 They were obtained from November to March. I have never seen more than 

 one of this species ou the same marsh. 



(25G) L. brunneicephalus. — The Brown-headed Gull. 

 Blanford, No. 1491 ; Hume, No. 980. 



This is the common gull on the marshes in the vicinity of Baghownie and 

 a few are also met with on the Keray River. I never came across any gulls 

 in the sub-division though they are certain to occur on the Minti and Sum da 

 chaurs. On the Maiser Chaur these gulls are, I believe, to be found in fair 

 numbers throughout the co!d weather. It was some time before I procured 

 specimens, as on the marsh which I shot over they were rather wary. These 

 gulls settle a lot on the water and nearly always where cormorants (P # 

 javanicus) are feeding, and for many days my man used to hit the latter birds 

 instead of the gulls. They seemed to have a charmed life and it was not till 

 the 31st January 1902 that the spell was broken. All my specimens were got 

 from November to the middle of March and none had assumed the breeding 

 plumage. The stomachs of all the gulls I have examined have contained 

 nothing but fish. 



(257) L. CACHINNAKS. — The Yellow-legged Herring-Gull. 

 Blanford, No. 1495 ; Hume, No. 978 bis. 



Rare. A single immature specimen was procured on the Kokoron Chaur on 

 the 4th March 1902 and brought to me by a mir-shikar. He had caught it 

 with birdlime. 



