LARID.1<;. 



653 



THE GREAT BLACK-HEADED (;ULL. 

 Larus ichthvaetus, Pallas. 



An example of this south-eastern species — -which almost attains 

 the dimensions of our Great Black-backed Gull — was recorded by 

 Mr. F. W. L. Ross (Ann. & Mag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 467) as having 

 been shot off Exmouth, about the end of May or early in June 

 1859, when in company with a flock of ordinary members of the 

 family. This bird, now in the Exeter Museum, is an adult in 

 summer plumage ; its history appears to be satisfactory, and it 

 cannot be suspected of having escaped from confinement, for no 

 instance is known of this species having been in captivity. 



Even in the Mediterranean the Great Black-headed Gull is only 

 found in the extreme eastern portion known as the Levant, where it 

 has been met with in Cyprus, and on the shores and lakes of 

 Palestine. It is common in Egypt and as far up the Nile as Nubia ; 

 while it occurs in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and thence along 

 the coast-line to India. In the Black Sea it is decidedly rare, but 

 it breeds in great numbers on the Seal Islands in the Caspian and 

 on the low-lying shores of that sea, as well as on the lakes of 

 Turkestan ; while J )r. Finsch noted its arrival on the Ala-Kul — a 

 little to the east of Lake Balkash — on May 9th, and on the Saisan- 

 Nor early in June. Prjevalsky observed it on the Koko-Nor (100° 



