The Mammalia and Birds of Franz Josef Lamd. 101 



Mr Bruce tells me that, though seen constantly and in some 

 numbers, the Ivory Gull does not breed there ; the only 

 nesting-station known to him being at Cape Mary Harms- 

 worth. Other nesting-places mentioned by Dr ISTeale are at 

 Cape Stephen, Bell Island, and Gray Bay; and, according 

 to Mr Leigh Smith, it breeds at May Island, placing its nest 

 on the top of a low basaltic cliff {Proc. Boy. Geog. Soc, iii. 

 p. 131). 



Dr Nansen observed this Gull amid the polar ice far to 

 the north-east of Franz Josef Land on the 2nd of June 1895, 

 when, he tells us, he shot two for food. These birds were 

 afterwards not unfrequently seen by him when he was skirt- 

 ing the land ; and in August they were found, along with 

 other birds, at the Isles of Hvidtenland. 



Dr Neale records that in the autumn of 1881 the Ivory 

 Gulls departed from Cape Flora at the end of October, and 

 arrived there the following spring on the 20th of April. 

 Dr Nansen observed them for the first time in 1896 as early 

 as the 12th of March, at his winter-quarters on Frederick 

 Jackson Island. 



[This bird was quite abundant in the autumn of 1896 at 

 Cape Flora, and the last entry in my diary for this species 

 was on the 3rd of October, when about twenty Ivory Gulls 

 and several young ones were observed. In the spring of 

 1897 this bird was first seen on the 10th of April, when 

 twenty at least were observed in the evening. I do not 

 think that this bird breeds at Cape Flora, and my only 

 experience with the bird as a breeding species is contained 

 in the following account : — 



August 7th. To-day we landed at Cape Mary Harmsworth, 

 and the first thing we noted was an immense number of 

 Ivory Gulls, and from their demonstrations and shriekings 

 it soon became evident that they were nesting. As we 

 travelled across the low-lying spit we found this was so. 

 Here there are five or six square miles, or more, of fairly 

 level ground, more or less terraced, being evidently a series 

 of raised beaches. This, if not the largest, is one of the 

 largest areas of bare ground in Franz Josef Land. Beyond 

 a few lichens and occasional patches of moss, there is very 



