GULLS 483 



Proc. Zool. Soc, 1878, pp. 206-207, and " Cat. Birds 

 Brit. Mus.," XXV. p. 187; Cecil Smith, ZooZ., 1883, 

 p. 120. 



ROSS'S GULL. Rhodostethia rossii, BichsLYdson. Length, 

 13-5 in. ; bill, 1 in. ; wing, 10*25 in. ; tarsus, 1'25 in. 



Hab. Arctic regions. 



One, Milford-cum-Kirby, Yorkshire, Feb. 1874: Charles- 

 worth, Proc. York Phil. Soc, vol. i. p. 33 ; Zool, 1847, 

 p. 1782; and Sir W. Milner, torn, cit, p. 1694. But 

 these accounts differ as to locality and date of capture. 

 In the collection of the late Sir W. Milner. 



Ohs. This Gull, named after Sir James Clark 

 Ross, who discovered it on Melville Peninsula in 

 June 1823, and known also as the " Rosy Gull " from 

 the rose pink colour of the underparts, and the 

 " Wedge-tailed Gull " from another peculiarity, is 

 a typical Arctic circumpolar bird. It reaches a 

 latitude attained by few other species, and speci- 

 mens met with outside the Arctic Circle can only 

 be regarded as wanderers. No one has explained 

 what could become of the numbers seen by Murdoch 

 to pass Point Barrow in the autumn, and less is 

 known of the winter home of this gull than of the 

 region where it breeds. Nansen saw flocks of this 

 species on August 6 in lat. 81° 38^ E. long. 63°, 

 near four small islands which he called Hirtenland, 

 N.E. of Franz Josef Land ; and though he did not 

 actually find the nests, the birds were probably 

 breeding not far away. Von Payer met with Ross's 

 Gull between Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef 



