640 LARID.E. 



Burgomaster is not a numerous species, and yet it is a 

 general attendant on the whale-fisbers whenever any spoils 

 are to be obtained. It then hovers over the scene of action, 

 and, having marked out its morsel, descends upon it and 

 carries it off on the wing. On its descent, the most dainty 

 pieces must be relinquished, though in the grasp of the 

 Fulmar Petrel, the Ivory Gull, or the Kittiwake. It seldom 

 alights in the water. When it rests on the ice, it selects a 

 hummock, and fixes itself on the highest pinnacle. It is a 

 rapacious animal, and, when without other food, falls upon 

 the smaller species of birds and eats them. I have found the 

 bones of a small bird in its stomach, and have observed it in 

 pursuit of the little Auk. Its eggs I have found on the beach 

 of Spitsbergen, deposited in the same way as those of the 

 Tern, namely, on the shingle, above high-water mark, where 

 the full power of the sun falls." 



The remarks of Faber in reference to this species at Ice- 

 land are, in substance, as follows : — This bird remains here 

 all the year, keeping the open sea in winter, and breeding in 

 summer on the rocks of the southern and western parts in 

 company with Larus marlnus, which it resembles in some 

 of its habits, in its nest, and its eggs. It attacks smaller 

 birds, and robs their nests for food. It feeds also on Cancer 

 piilex and aranens ; extracts the soft animals from the shells 

 of Venus islandica, Pecten islandicns, and searches closely 

 for the Lump-sucking fish, Cyclopterus Inmpus. 



The Glaucous Gull makes its nest indifi"erently on the 

 projecting ledges of lofty cliffs, or on the sea-shore. On 

 Spitsbergen the Kev. A. E. Eaton found nests among the 

 sitting Eider Ducks, and one was placed upon the upturned 

 roots of a spruce fir among the drift wood. Eggs were 

 taken on the 15th June, and young observed on the 13th 

 July (Zool. s.s. p. 3811). The egg is of a stone-colour, 

 spotted with ash-grey and two shades of brown, and measures 

 2*9 by 2 in. The Glaucous Gull has bred and successfully 

 reared its young in the Zoological Society's Gardens, on 

 several occasions. 



The adult bird has the bill veHow, the inferior angle of 



