MEDITERRANEAN BLACK-HEADED GULL. 221 



correspond with those of the larger bird, and it is said that 

 maturity is not reached until the fourth year. Length, 22 ins. 

 Wing, 17 ins. Tarsus, 2*4 ins. 



Great Black-headed Gull. Lams ichthyaetus Pallas. 



The Great Black-headed Gull, a native of the eastern 

 Mediterranean and central Asia, has wandered to England ; 

 one having been obtained in Devon in the spring of 1859. 

 There is a more recent report for Kent. It is a large gull, 

 about the size of the Great Black-back, with a black, not brcwn 

 hood, and a slightly darker mantle than our small bird. The 

 white-tipped secondaries form a bar on the wing, and the 

 primaries are white, broadly barred with black. In winter the 

 hood is replaced by dark streaks. The yellow bill has an 

 orange patch or band across both mandibles, and a black line 

 crosses this band ; the legs are greenish yellow, the irides dark 

 brown, and there are whitish lines above and below the eye. 

 The female is often much smaller than the male. Length, 26 

 ins. Wing, 19 ins. Tarsus, 3 ins. 



Mediterranean Black-headed Gull. Lams melano- 

 cephalus Temm. 



This Black-headed Gull is a bird of the eastern Mediterranean 

 and Black Sea, and occurs in the south of France and Spain. 

 On three or four, possibly more, occasions it has been taken as 

 a wanderer in England, usually in autumn or winter in southern 

 counties, but once as far north as Yorkshire. The head in 

 this species is really black, and extends further on the nape 

 and neck than in most hooded gulls ; the mantle is light pearl 

 grey, and the primaries white towards the tips, but there are 

 black lines down the webs. The bill and legs are scarlet, the 

 former crossed by a narrow dark band. The irides are brown, 



