452 Messrs. H. Seebohm and J. A. Harvie Brown on 



At the time of migration Are saw several of these birds perch 

 together on a high leafy birch tree. 



LaRUS MARINUS, L. 



The Great Black-backed Gull appears to be decidedly scarce,, 

 both on the river and on the shores of the Petchora Gulf. 

 The first two we saw were resting on an island near Alexievka, 

 where the Arctic Terns were also found in numbers. They 

 were easily identified as they were sitting beside several indi- 

 viduals of Larus affinis, their superior size being evident at 

 a glance. Afterwards we met with them sparingly at Dvoinik 

 along the shore, but obtained no examples ; nor did we obtain 

 any eggs or young. 



Larus affinis, Reinhardt ? 



The Siberian Herring-Gull arrived on migration at Ust 

 Zylma about the 11th May. It breeds on the shores of the 

 delta and the lagoons of the Petchora. We obtained several 

 of its eggs, which do not differ from those of the other Euro- 

 pean Herring-Gulls. Nearly all the birds which frequent 

 the Petchora were in adult plumage. We shot two birds in 

 immature plumage, and may have seen a couple more. 

 Wherever a party of fishermen was stationed there were sure 

 to be plenty of Herring-Gulls. They hovered over the nets 

 as they were being dragged in, and frequently secured small 

 fish as they attempted to escape. 



This species is intermediate in the colour of its mantle be- 

 tween the Mediterranean Herring- Gull and the Lesser Black- 

 backed Gull. Like both those species, it has yellow legs ; and 

 the circle round the eye is brilliant vermilion, or the colour 

 of a Seville orange. It is, however, emphatically a Herring- 

 Gull, as the coloration of the primaries abundantly proves. 

 It agrees in the colour of the mantle with the description of 

 Larus affinis of Reinhardt ; but we do not for one moment 

 venture to assert that this is its true name. We may, how- 

 ever, ventm'c to suggest that the Herring-Gulls which breed 

 in the Petchora winter on the shores of the Arabian Sea, and 

 are the species spoken of by Mr. Hume {' Stray Feathers,^ 

 1873, p. 273) as Larus occidentalls, Audubon. In winter, no 



