GULLS 299 



duals obtained are usually birds of the year or adults in 

 winter plumage, but in February 1870, after prolonged 

 easterly gales, the proportion of adults to immature 

 birds was reversed, and the former were remarkably 

 numerous. The nearest breeding haunts of the 

 Little Gull, according to Mr. Howard Saunders, are 

 probably those in the morasses of Esthonia, and be- 

 tween Lake Ladoga and Archangel. In a very few 

 instances the Little Gull has been found here in 

 breeding plumage, that is to say, with head and 

 upper portion of the neck black. One with the 

 black head fully developed was shot on the sands 

 at Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, June 28, 1854 (T. 

 Edward, Nat., 1854, p. 226); a second, seen in 

 company with it, escaped. Another specimen was 

 obtained at Churt, near Frensham, in February 1875 

 (Zool, 1875, p. 4459). In Oct. 1889 a white variety 

 was obtained off Flamborough Head {Zool., 1890, 

 p. 19). 



The Little Gull is a rare bird in Scotland (see 

 "Fauna of Sutherland," p. 231), but is met with 

 irregularly along the east coast, and less frequently 

 on the west, as far north as Skye. Three have 

 been obtained in the Sol way Firth, in Oct. 1893, 

 Jan. 1894, and Sept. 1896 {Zool, 1894, p. 115; 

 1896, p. 385); and two in Mid-Wales in Oct. 1891 

 (Salter, Zool., 1895, p. 250). In Ireland, according 

 to Mr. Ussher, this bird occurs as an irregular 

 visitant in autumn and winter. It has been met 

 with in Guernsey {Zool., 1885, p. 262). The weight 

 of one shot in Rye Harbour, Sussex, was 4J oz. 



