GULLS 481 



bird, inferior in size to the common Black-headed 

 Gull, but in the breeding plumage resembles it in 

 having a dark hood. 



MEDITERRANEAN BLACK-HEADED GULL. Lariu^ 



onelanocephalus, Natterer. Length, lo'5 in. ; bill, 

 1-75 in.; wing, 11'75 in.; tarsus, 1-9 in. 



Hah. The Mediterranean coasts of Spain, Portugal, and 

 South- Western France. 



One on the Thames, near Barking Creek, Jan. 1866 : 

 Saunders, Ihis, 1872, p. 79. In the British Museum. 



One, Breydon Harbour, Yarmouth, Dec. 26, 1886 : Smith, 

 Zool, 1887, p. 69. Exhibited by Mr. Saunders at a 

 meeting of the Zoological Society, Jan. 18, 1887. 



Obs. The Masked Gull, Larus capistratus, 

 Temm., which was treated as a distinct species by 

 Eyton, Jenyns, Yarrell, and other authors, would be 

 here inserted as a rare or accidental visitant, were 

 there any good grounds for believing it to be a valid 

 species. But there can be little doubt that the 

 name capistratiis was bestowed upon a small speci- 

 men of L. ridibundus in a transitional phase of 

 plumage; cf. Thompson, "Nat. Hist. Irel. (Birds)," 

 vol. iii. pp. 334-340. 



GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL. Larus icUhyaetus, 

 Pallas. Length, 26 in. ; bill, 3 "2 5 in. : w'lmj;, 19 in. ; 

 tarsus, 3 '3 in. 



Hah. South-Eastern Europe ; Egj^pt ; Palestine ; India. 



One, Exmouth, May 1859 : Ross, Ann. Mag. Xat. Hist., 

 Dec. 1859, p. 467; Zool, 1860, p. 6860. In the Albert 

 Memorial, Exeter Museum. 



2 H 



