IVORY GULL. 8:^ 



Habits. — The flight of the Ivory Gull is described by Colonel 

 Feilden as being more like that of a Tern than of a Gull, and 

 he says that it has a shrill note, not unlike that of the Arctic 

 Tern. Its food consists of marine animals, as well as the 

 droppings of walruses and seals, and the refuse of the carcases 

 of the latter animals and whales cast aside by the hunters. 

 Numbers were observed by Malmgren sitting for hours round 

 the ice-holes through which the seals came up, looking as if 

 they were sitting round a council-table ; " a practice which has 

 doubtless given rise to the curious name used by Martens in 

 1675 for this Gull, viz., 'Rathsherr' (Councillor), a name 

 analogous in its derivation to that of * Biirgermeister ' (Mayor), 

 used for the Glaucous Gull " {Saunders). 



Nest. — Composed of green moss, according to Professor 

 Collett, this moss forming one-tenth of its mass. "The nest 

 consists of small splinters of drift-wood, a few feathers, single 

 stalks and leaves of algoe, with one or two particles of lichen. 

 No trace of straw is to be found ; a couple of pebbles may 

 possibly have appertained to the under layer of the nest. The 

 mosses occur in pieces of the size of a walnut or less, and have 

 evidently been plucked in a fresh state from a dry sub-soil, 

 either on rocks or gravelly places. The feathers, of which a 

 few were found, are snowy-white, and have probably fallen 

 from the brooding bird." The nests are placed, as a rule, on 

 the cliffs, at a height of from fifty to a hundred feet, and are 

 often quite inaccessible. Those described by Professor Collett 

 were obtained on the island of Stor-oen, off Spitsbergen, about 

 sixteen English miles to the east of Cape Smith in 80° 9' N. 

 Lat., by Captain Johannesen. 



Eggs. — One, or two, in number. The ground-colour of five 

 specimens sent to Professor Collett, were almost exactly alike, 

 viz., a light greyish-brown tint, with a faint admixture of 

 yellowish-green, such as often appears on the eggs of Larus 

 ca?ius, which, however, have often a deeper brown or greener 

 hue. In structure and gloss all the eggs brought to Professor 

 Collett resemble those of Z. canus ; but the granulations 

 under the microscope are a little coarser, more uneven, and in 

 larger numbers ; on the other hand, the granulations are 

 perceptibly finer than in Z. fuscus. The eggs are easily dis- 



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