200 



British Birds. 



collar ; the bill is black with a yellow tip, and there is a ring of bright vermilion 

 round the e\e. The specimens of Sabine's Gull which occur oft' our coasts are 

 mostly young birds, but at least two adult ones have also been secured. Its nesting- 

 home is in the Arctic regions, and it breeds throughout North America, from Baffin 

 Bay to Alaska, as well as in the high north of Eastern Siberia. The habits of this 

 species are said to be very like those of a Tern, but it also frequents the beaches, 

 and runs with great swiftness, so that it can be easily mistaken for a Wading- 

 bird. It nests in compan}', and the two eggs are laid on the ground or on a few 

 blades of grass. The colour of the eggs is unmistakable among those of the Gulls, 

 being of a very dark olive-brown with indistinct spots and blotches of reddish-brown 

 and gre}' ; the length is from 

 an inch-and-five-eighths to an 

 inch -and •se\en -eighths. 



In breed - 



THE 



WEDGE-T.\ILED 



GL'LL. 



{Rhodostct]iia 



rosea.") 



ing plumage 

 Ross's Gull, 

 as this 



The Wedge-tailed Gi'll. 



species IS 

 generally 

 called, is of a light pearly grey, 

 with the tail, underparts, and 

 head and neck white, with a 

 black collar round the latter. 

 On the breast there is at first 

 a lovely rosy blush, which 



fades in preserved specimens : it is less pronounced in winter, when the black 

 collar is also absent. In young birds there is a black band at the end of the tail, 

 and there is a black patch behind the eye. 



Ross's Gull breeds in the Arctic regions, and Ur. Nansen found its nesting-haunts 

 on some islands in Lat. So" 38' N, Long. 63 E. It has been noticed in Green- 

 land and many other places in the high north, and has been seen abundantly 

 on migration at Point Barrow in the autumn. A single specimen has been said to 

 have been procured in Yorkshire. The nest has not yet been described, but an egg 

 ascribed to this species is in the British Museum; it resembles that of Sabine's 

 Gull, but is a little larger: length an inch-and-seven-eighths. 



The small size of this pretty little Gull is the best 

 character for its recognition, as it is only about ten-and-a- 

 half inches in length. It has a black cap in summer, but 

 in winter the head is white, with the hinder crown slaty-grey, 

 and a blackish patch behind the eye. The young birds resemble the winter 

 plumage of the adults, but have a black band at the end of the tail. The species 



THE 

 LITTLE GULL. 

 {Ltinis ntinutiis.) 



