322 LARUS GELASTES. 
LARUS GELASTES, “H. Lichtenstein,” fide Thienemann. 
[§ 4553. Three.—Kustendje, 30 June, 1870. “ Bird caught. 
W.H.C.” From Mr. A. S. Cullen. 
Writing to me from Southampton on the 20th of August, 1870, Mr. A. S. 
Cullen enclosed a list of eggs sent to him by Dr. W. H. Cullen, of Kustendje, 
in which the name of Larus tenuirostris (=gelastes) was included. I therefore 
asked him to let me have a complete sitting, and in due time received these. 
I made further enquiries of him, and he wrote to me on the 80th that “The 
three light-coloured eggs of ZL. tenuirostris that I sent you were all found in 
the same nest, and therefore I conclude they are the produce of one bird.” He 
went on to say that “ The birds were caught with a peculiar kind of horsehair 
nooses, especially adapted to catching birds on the ground. I have myself 
employed them on numberless occasions with never-failing success... . Sterna 
anglica and S. cantiaca were both observed in the neighbourhood of where 
Larus tenuirostris was found breeding, and a few of their eggs were taken ; 
but I do not think that any were seen on the ground actually occupied by the 
Slenderbill. As to the genuineness of the eggs, you must not have any doubt 
on that score, for especial and very great care was taken in collecting them. 
The eggs of L. tenwirostris when fresh have a beautiful roseate tinge about them, 
and this characteristic is not, I believe, observable in any other bird of the same 
class, and would alone be almost sufficient to distinguish them from those 
of any other Gull or Tern. As to the eggs I sent you as ZL. tenuirostris being 
those of S. anglica or S. cantiaca, as your remark would almost imply, that 
seems to me quite impossible, as they area great deal too large... Iam sorry 
to say that I cannot give you any particulars at present as to the nesting of 
I. tenuirostris, as I have sent the paper I received on that subject to Dr. Bree, 
of Colchester, preparatory to its being inserted in ‘The Field.’” This paper 
was published in that newspaper for 10 September, 1S70 (p. 236), and, in 1876, 
reprinted by him in the Second Edition of his ‘ Birds of Europe not observed 
in the British Isles’ (v. pp. 73-75), when he also figured three of the eggs 
sent to him. The breeding-place is described as being on small islets, 
partially covered with reeds, in lagoons of brackish water separated by low 
sandbanks from the Black Sea. The nests, made of seaweed, covered a space 
thirty feet long by fifteen feet broad. All contained eggs, but not more than 
three in each. At first the birds were not at all shy, but several having been 
caught on their nests on two occasions, the next day the spot was entirely 
deserted by the survivors. | 
[§ 4554. Zio—Licio Real, Southern Spain, 21 May, 1889. 
«HH. E. D.” From Mr. Dresser. 
Mr. Dresser wrote :—“ Herewith I send a clutch of two eggs of Larus 
gelastes, which I took when with Mr. Hanbury Barclay on the Guadalquivir. 
We found a small colony on a piece of dried mud at Liicio Real, and took 
several clutches. In almost every nest there was a feather or two of the 
Flamingo. This clutch is the most characteristic of those I have.”] 
