ICELAND GULL 149 



approached with difficulty. In this respect it differs markedly from 

 the Iceland gull, which under such circumstances displays symptoms 

 of alarm. The white-winged species when on the wing can be readily 

 distinguished from the Iceland gull by its larger size and more laboured 

 flight, which approximates in character to that of the great black- 

 backed gull. When at rest the tips of the primary quills extend to 

 the extremity of the tail or but slightly beyond, whereas in the 

 Iceland gull the former project two inches or more beyond the latter. 



Iceland Gull '^'^^ Iceland or lesser white-winged gull is a still 



(Larus leueo- i^ioi'e Arctic species than the last (from which it 



pterus) ^^^y ^^ distinguished by its inferior size and 



relatively larger wings), found on both sides of 



the northern Atlantic, and visiting the British Isles, more especially 



ICELAND GULL. 



their northern districts, in winter in larger or smaller numbers accord- 

 ing to the nature of the season. Its breeding- haunts include 

 Cambridge Bay and probably other parts of Arctic America, Green- 

 land, and Jan Mayen Island. In most ornithological works it is 

 stated to visit Iceland only in winter, and this is probably true as a 

 rule, but the British Museum possesses a couple of eggs from that 

 island. Its usual winter-haunts include Iceland, the Faroes, Scandi- 

 navia, the shores of the Baltic, and thus down the western coasts of 

 Europe as far south, in exceptionally severe winters, as the southern 

 side of the Bay of Biscay. To Scotland and the Isles it is, as already 



