580 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 
Sapine’s Guy, Larus Sabini. Vhe occurrence of 
three specimens of this rare little Gull at Weston- 
super-Mare have been recorded in the ‘ Zoologist’ 
by the Rev. Murray A. Mathew,* and therefore it is 
perfectly entitled to a place in the list of Somerset- 
shire birds, perhaps more so than some that I have 
mentioned. Being the only one of our British Gulls 
that has a forked tail, it seems very properly to come 
in this place, as it forms a sort of link between the 
Gulls and the Terns: on account of this peculiarity 
it may also easily be distinguished from any of our 
other Gulls in any state of plumage. Yarrell, 
quoting Colonel Sabine, who first noticed this bird 
when accompanying the Arctic Expedition of 1818, 
says that these Gulls collect at their breeding sta- 
tions in considerable numbers, sometimes associating 
with the Arctic Terns, the nests, or rather the eggs, 
—for they make no nest, merely placing the eggs on 
the bare ground,—of both species being intermingled. 
The breeding stations are always in high northern 
latitudes, from whence only occasional stragglers 
reach as far south as England, generally making 
their appearance at the time of the autumnal migra- 
tion, and most of these are young birds in their first 
year’s plumage. 
The food of this species appears to consist mostly 
« § Zoologist’ for 1863 (p. 8692); for 1865 (p. 9470); 
and for 1867 (Second Series, p. 992). 
