648 LITTLE GULL. 



The Little Gull was obtained in the Feeroes for the first time in 

 February 1886, and has only recently been noticed in the south of 

 Norway ; but according to Nilsson it formerly bred in Gottland, and 

 it annually visits the coasts and islands of the Baltic. Its nearest 

 nesting-places are probably those in the morasses of Esthonia, and 

 between Lake Ladoga and Archangel ; but large colonies are to be 

 found among the swamps of the Ural, and the bird remains until 

 somewhat late in spring in Southern Russia and the Black Sea 

 district, though not positively known to breed there. On migration 

 and in winter it visits the inland waters as well as the coasts of 

 Europe, down to the Mediterranean ; while it also frequents the 

 northern shores of Africa. In summer it is found across temperate 

 Asia as far north as the Sea of Okhotsk ; but, with one exception, 

 it has not been known to cross the great central ranges to India. 

 According to Mr. W. Butcher an immature example was shot on 

 Long Island, New York State, about September 15th 1887 (Auk 

 1888, p. 171). 



Mr. W. Meves of Stockholm, who found a large colony of 

 * Schieks ' — as the Russians call the Little Gulls — near Lake 

 Ladoga, describes the nests as being placed on almost floating islets 

 of tangled plants, and built of leaves and grass. The eggs, usually 

 3 but occasionally 4 in number, are olive-green or pale brown, 

 rather minutely spotted and sparsely blotched with umber : average 

 measurements i'65 by I'l in. Both parents incubate. The stomachs 

 of the birds examined by Mr. Meves contained chiefly small fish, 

 insects being only found in a few. 



The adult in summer-plumage (figured in the foreground) has the 

 under parts white suff"used with pink ; mantle pale grey ; primaries 

 broadly tipped with white and devoid of dark bars, the under side 

 black — a conspicuous characteristic when the bird is flying ; hood 

 black ; bill reddish-brown ; legs and feet vermilion. In winter the 

 head is white, more or less streaked with ash-colour on the nape, as 

 shown in the hindermost figure. Length 12 in., wing 875 in. A 

 young bird (in the centre) shot in November had the upper parts 

 mottled with dark brown, and a band of the same colour at the tip 

 of the tail. In the immature stage the primaries are blackish-brown — 

 except on the inner webs where they are chiefly white — and the under 

 side of the wing is white ; the bill is blackish and the feet are yellow. 

 The nape becomes dark grey the first spring, but the dark markings 

 on the shoulders and tail remain till after the second moult. 



