GULLS 303 



Auk), and on account of this ruling habit is known 

 to whalers as " the Burgomaster." 



GREATER BLACK-BACKED GULL. Larus marinus, 

 Linna3us. Length, 28 in. ; bill, 2-6 in, ; wing, 19-5 in. ; 

 tarsus, 3 in. 



Resident, but more particularly confined to the 

 north and west coasts, and more abundant in Scot- 

 land, where it breeds on the hill lochs, usually in 

 pairs, but sometimes in colonies (Harvie-Brown and 

 Buckley, "Fauna of Sutherland," p. 233). 



In Ireland, according to Mr. Ussher, a few pairs 

 breed on the cliffs and islands off Donegal, Dublin, 

 Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Galway, and 

 Mayo, and there are larger colonies on the Cow 

 Rock, off Dursey Head, as well as on the Bell 

 Rocks, off Achill, Co. Mayo. 



Mr. Howard Saunders is of opinion that the 

 adult plumage is not attained until the bird is in its 

 fifth year, and even then the amount of white on the 

 two or three outer primaries continues to increase 

 with age. For a description of the changes of 

 plumage observed in a bird of this species, which 

 was kept in the author's garden for three years, see 

 the "Birds of Middlesex," pp. 263-265. 



The weight of an adult bird, shot in Pagham 

 Harbour, Sussex, I found to be 3 lbs. 4 oz. The 

 expanse of wing, 5 feet. 



As to the former value of Gulls in Sussex, see 

 Zool, 1891, p. 194. 



