LARID.E — THE GULLS AND TERNS — LARUS. 



213 



I ii 



Young. 



niense numbers. They speak of its nest as being large and untidy, formed of sea- 

 weed, and usually containing three eggs. The nests were found on the shore, or, 

 more often, on the low rocks, and in one or two instances were even built on masses 

 of ice. This Gull was observed to act in a very tyrannical manner toward the weaker 

 birds in its vicinity. Its plumage was so very dense that it could only with the great- 

 est difficulty be penetrated 

 by shot. Its eggs were 

 hardly distinguishable from 

 those of Larus 7narinus. 



Professor Alfred New- 

 ton, in his paper on the 

 Ornithology of Spitzber- 

 gen, speaks of finding this 

 Gull far less numerous than 

 the Kittiwakes, but prob- 

 ably extending its range 

 along the entire coast of 

 the country. 



Sir James Ross refers to 

 this species as being abun- 

 dant on the shores of Low 

 Island, although it was not 

 seen north of latitude 81°. 

 Professor Newton's friend, who went to the eastward from the Thousand Islands, 

 met with many young Burgomaster Gulls about half-fledged ; and he was informed 

 by his pilot that they had been found breeding, in the summer of 1859, on Gilies Land. 

 Dr. Malmgren reported this species as breeding in incredible numbers on Bear Island; 

 he also remarked that it chooses the highest parts of the cliffs for nidification. He 

 likewise found it breeding high up on the mountain sides, apart from any other 

 species. AYhen in Loon Bay he saw one of these Gulls swoop down like a Falcon 

 upon a young Uria grylle, seize it in its beak, and devour it on the projecting point 

 of the nearest rocky cliff, where the numerous skeletons bore witness to its rapacity 

 at previous times. 



]\Iiddendorff includes this species among the birds of Siberia, and places it in the list 

 of those which penetrate to the most northern portions of that country. Mr. G. Gillett, 



in his Notes on the Birds of Nova Zembla, 

 mentions finding it abundant everywhere 

 in that region. It was noticed all along 

 the coast, both on the eastern and on the 

 western sides, and did not confine itself 

 to the ice as much as do some of the 

 other species. In this same locality Von 

 Heuglin reports it as pretty common 

 southward as far as Jugors Strait. Mr. 

 R. Swiuhoe (" Ibis," April, 1874) reports this species as having been seen at Hako- 

 dadi, Japan, in March. 



Mr. Wheelwright was informed that the Glaucous Gull breeds occasionally on 

 the coast of East Finland. The eggs are two — seldom three — in number, and 

 are rather smaller than those of the marinus — which, however, they closely resemble, 

 although their ground-color is lighter, and the markings are smaller. 



