44 Mr. H. Durnford on sonic Birds obstrved 



nesting-ground^ or rookery^ as they term it, of Black-headed 

 Gulls at New Bay, about forty miles from the village. About 

 three miles east from Pot harbour, whieh is at the western- 

 most point of New Bay, and a short distance from the beach, 

 on low sandy ground, is a breeding-place of Black-headed 

 Gulls. The nests are placed close together ; and three eggs 

 is the number usually laid. I was assured by one of the 

 colonists, an old whaler, who knows the coast well, that the 

 birds commence to lay on or about the lOtli December ; and 

 another colonist informed me that when on one occasion they 

 were fishing in New Bay, they frequently went ashore to col- 

 lect the eggs, which they prized as food, and this was about 

 a week before Christmas ; he also told me that amongst the 

 Black-headed Gulls were a few pairs of a large black-backed 

 Gull (which could have been nothing else but L. dominicanus) 

 whose eggs they were also in the habit of eating. During 

 my visit to the colony, L. macuUjjennis was frequently pointed 

 out to me as the bird nesting near Pot harbour ; and as that 

 is the only Hooded Gull I saw, and is well known to the 

 colonists, some of whom have visited the Gullery, I have 

 little doubt my informants were correct. 



I had one day made partial arrangements for a journey to 

 Pot harbour, no slight imdertaking, as water has to be taken 

 for both man and beast for the journey to and fro, and was 

 only prevented from completing them through being assured 

 by the whaler mentioned above that he had many times visited 

 the spot, and that the birds did not lay before the 10th De- 

 cember. This agrees with my observations, as just previous 

 to and during the first ten days of my visit this species was 

 far more numerous than when I left on the 29th November, 

 on which date very few birds were to be seen. 



Capt. Musters mentions that during his travels with the 

 Tehuelches they came across a large Gullery in the neigh- 

 bourhood of lagoons of considerable size a few leagues from 

 the Cordillera, and, as far as I can make out, in about lat. 

 42° 50' S. It would be especially interesting to know what 

 species this could have been ; for if L. maculipennis is regularly 



