Sabine's gull. 319 



LARUS SABINII, J. Sabine. 

 SABINE'S GULL. 



October, 1881, will long be remembered in Norfolk 

 for the severity of a storm which occurred on the 14th 

 of that month. It was purely cyclonic, beginning in 

 the south, and passing successively to south-west, west, 

 and north-west, and was accompanied by a deluge of rain 

 such as has been rarely experienced in this county ; the 

 seven following days were calmer but very cold, the mean, 

 43° 3', being about 6° below the average temperature. One 

 result of this exceptional weather was the arrival on our 

 coast of several rare birds ; among others, BufFon's and 

 Richardson's skuas and little gulls, but the 17th and 

 22nd were rendered notable by the appearance on Brey- 

 don of two immature examples of Sabine's gull, the 

 first known to have occurred in this county. One of 

 these northern strangers was sent to Mr. Stevenson in 

 the flesh, and proved upon dissection to be a female ; 

 the other, a male, was purchased by Mr. Connop, of 

 Caister, in whose collection it now is ; Mr. Stevenson's 

 bird subsequently found a home in the Norwich Museum. 



In a paper by Mr. Stevenson, published in the 

 ^' Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' 

 Society " (vol. iii., p. 373), giving full particulars of this 

 event, occurs the following passage, which is worth 

 quoting, as his prediction has to some extent already 

 been fulfilled. He says, "It seems remarkable that 

 this arctic species, which has been procured several 

 times in Great Britain, should not, hitherto, have been 

 recognised on some portion of our extensive sea-board ; 

 but, probably, as I have remarked in more than one 

 instance,^ of late years, in the case of additions to our 

 list of rare and accidental migrants — the wanderers of 

 1881 may prove but the pioneers of others of their 

 race; " and thus it happened, on the 6th October, 1889, 

 under similar conditions of wind and weather, and 



* " The white-winged black tern for example.' 



