Avifauna of Franz Jos(f Land. 363 



be found, perhaps, one of the long-sought breeding-haunts 

 of this interesting bird. 



The experience of Dr. Nansen and his companion Lieut. 

 Johansen in North-eastern Franz Josef Laud during the 

 summer of 1895 practically demonstrates that this Gull 

 breeds in considerable numbers in that portion of the 

 archipelago. During their long and arduous sledge-journey 

 over the polar ice they first observed this bird when 

 approaching Franz Josef Land from the north-east. The 

 first example, an adult, was seen on the 14tli of July. After 

 that date one or two were observed almost daily; aud on 

 the 31st four came under notice. On the 1st of August 

 Dr. Nansen writes in his diary (p. 283) : " It would seem 

 as if the Rosses Gulls kept to the land here; we see 

 them almost daily. ^' When nearing the small group of 

 islands to which the name of Hvidtenland has been given, 

 numbers of these birds were seen, and Dr. Nansen remarks 

 (p. 297) : '' Yesterday [the 9th of August] we saw a number 

 of them ; they are quite as common here as any other species 

 of Gull." On the following day, when off Liv Island, one 

 of the group, he says (p. 298) : " We could see a strip of 

 bare land along the shore on the north-west side. Was it 

 there, perhaps, the Rosses Gulls congregated, and had their 

 breeding-grounds ? " 



[On the 5th of July, 1897, Mr. Jackson declared he had 

 seen Rosses Rosy Gull. He noted the bird flying high up 

 along with some Kittiwakes, and said that it flew into the 

 clifi", at the back of Elmwood, along with them. My opinion 

 is that it was probably a Kittiwake, and I think this bird 

 should 7iot be included in the list of birds seen or captured 

 by the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition. Only one of us 

 saw the bird besides Mr. Jackson, and that individual had a 

 good pair of binoculars, which he directed upon the bird. He 

 neither noticed any rosy colour nor the wedge-shaped tail, 

 both of which are distinctive characters. — W. S. B.J 



[?] Lahus argentatus Gmel. 



Nansen, op. cit. ii. pp. 206, 230, 235. 



Dr. Nansen, when ap[)roaching Franz Josef Land over the 



