LARID^ — THE GULLS AND TERNS — PA GOPHILA. 



199 



after in the Firth of Clyde. In 1834 a similar occurrence was noted by Mr. Sabine 

 on the western coast of Ireland ; and another has since been recorded near Gal way. 

 More recently there have been several of these birds obtained in Great Britain. Tem- 

 minck with his own hands shot one on the coast of Holland. Vieillot records this 

 species as having apj^eared on the coast of France. Nilsson states that it is seen occa- 

 sionally in winter both in Sweden and in the 

 northern part of Scandinavia. It is given by 

 Middendorff as one of the birds of Siberia, 

 where it is said to be found only in the ex- 

 treme north. 



Messrs. Evans and Sturge, in their paper 

 on the Birds of Western Spitzbergen, state 

 that of the beautiful snow-white Ivory Gull 

 they saw only six or seven individuals ; and 

 although both of the examples that they killed 

 had their bellies bare of feathers, as is the 

 case with sitting birds, all endeavors to find 

 where they were breeding failed. The sailors 

 asserted that this bird was never seen except- 

 ing upon ice ; and in only one instance was this statement proved to be incorrect. 



Professor Alfred XeAvton, in his Notes on the Birds of Spitzbergen, referring to 

 this species, remarks : — 



" The Ivory Gull is, of all others, the bird of which every visitor to Spitzbergen 

 will carry away the keenest recollection. One can only wish that a creature so 

 fair to look upon was not so foul a feeder. Contrary to the experience of all other 

 observers, I once saw an Ivory Gull, of its own accord, deliberately settle on the 

 water and swim. This was in the Stor Fjord. There is a very great variation in 

 the size of different examples, which is not to be attributed to sex nor to age ; but 

 I do not for one moment countenance the belief in a second species, which some 

 ornithologists have endeavored to establish under the name of P. hrachytarsa." 



The Swedish expedition to Spitzbergen in 1861 obtained some eggs of this species ; 

 and these were the first Avell-authenticated specimens taken to Europe. I transcribe 

 what Dr. Malmgren says about them : — 



" On the 7th of July, 1861, 1 found on the north shore of Murchison Bay, lat. 80° N., 

 a number of Ivory Gulls established on the side of a steep limestone precipice, some 

 hundred feet high, in company with the Rissa tridactyla and Larus glaucus. The 

 last-named occupied the higher zones of the precipice. The Larus eburneus, on the 

 other hand, occupied the niches and clefts lower down, at a height of from fifty to a 

 hundred feet. I could plainly see that the hen birds were sitting on their nests ; but 

 these were inaccessible. Circumstances did not permit, before the 30th of July, my 

 making the attempt, with the help of a long rope and some necessary assistance, to 

 get at the eggs. With the assistance of three men I succeeded, in reaching two of 

 the lowest in situation ; and each contained one egg. The nest was artless and with- 

 out connection, and consisted of a shallow depression eight or nine inches broad, in 

 a loose clay or mould, on a sublayer of limestone. Inside, the nest was carefiQly 

 lined with dry plants, moss, grasses, and the like, and a few feathers. The eggs 

 were much incubated, and already contained down-clad young. Both of the hen- 

 birds were shot upon their nests, and are now in the ISTational j\Iuseum. The male 

 birds were at first observable, but disappeared when we began the work of reaching 

 their nests." 



