LARID^. 



647 



THE LITTLE GULL. 



Larus minutus, Pallas. 



This species, the smallest member of the genus, was introduced 

 to the British list by Montagu, who described and figured a young 

 bird shot near Chelsea prior to 18 13. Other specimens were subse- 

 quently obtained from time to time, while in 1866, and again in 1868, 

 the Little Gull appeared on the coast of Yorkshire in numbers till 

 then unprecedented, though they were far exceeded along the entire 

 east side of England during the winter of 1869 ; and again after the 

 heavy easterly gales in February 1870, when the proportion of adults 

 to young birds was unusually large. It has also occurred along the 

 Channel as far as Cornwall, but seldom visits \Vales, Lancashire or 

 the Solway district. Along the west of Scotland it has appeared at 

 intervals as far as Skye and North Uist, but on the east, as might 

 be expected, the bird is more frequently met with, and has been 

 recorded from the Border to the Shellands. To Ireland it is an 

 infrequent visitor in autumn and winter. 



