LARID^. 



669 



THE GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL. 



Larus ichthyaetus, Pallas. 



An example of this sou'.h-eastern species, which almost attains 

 the dimensions of our Great Black-backed Gull, was recorded by- 

 Mr. F. W. L. Ross (Ann. & Uag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 467) as having 

 been shot off Exmouth, about the end of May or early in June 

 1859, when in company with a flock of commoner members of the 

 family. This bird, now in the Exeter Museum, is an adult in 

 summer-plumage; its history appears to be satisfactory, and it 

 cannot be suspected of having escaped from confinement, tor no 

 instance was known of this species having been in captivity until 

 an adult was brought to the Zoological Society's Gardens in June 



' Even in the Mediterranean the Great Black-headed Gull is only 

 found in the extreme eastern portion known as the Levant, where it 

 has been met with in Cyprus, and on the shores and lakes of 

 Palestine. It is common in Egypt and as far up the Nile as Nubia; 

 while it occurs in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and thence 

 along the coast line to India. In the Black Sea it is decidedly 

 rare; but it breeds in great numbers on the Seal Islands in the 

 Caspian and on the low-lying shores of that sea, as well as on the 

 hkes of Turkestan ; while Dr. Finsch noted its arrival on the Ala- 



