The White Phase of Phimaye in the Iceland Cridl. 165 



may quote Mr Howard Saunders, the recognised authority 

 on the order Gavias (Gulls, Terns, and Skuas). Writing in 

 1896 in his monograph of that order (" Brit. Mus. Cat. Birds," 

 XXV. p. 296), he states " that the young and immature of the 

 Iceland Gull resemble those of the Glaucous Gull, except as 

 regards the white phase, of which I have no certain knowledge, 

 though it prohaUy exists " (the italics are mine). Writing to 

 me under date of the 31st of March of the present year, 

 Mr Saunders, in reply to my inquiries as to whether these 

 remarks still held good, says : '* I am not certain, at the 

 moment, if the Iceland Gull has been actually proved to go 

 through the same white phase as L. glaucus, though there 

 was strong probability that this would be the case ; and the 

 Museum is to be congratulated on the acquisition." 



Although it is desirable to emulate the admirable caution 

 displayed by Mr Saunders in the reply quoted, I think it 

 may be fairly assumed that the specimen under consideration 

 actually supplies the stage so long unknown in the plumage 

 of the Iceland Gull, and replaces by demonstration the 

 reasonings of deduction. 



In the plumage of the first year (I quote largely from 

 Mr Saunders, op cit., p. 293, for the earlier and adult 

 plumages) the upper and under surfaces are streaked and 

 mottled with ash-brown on a paler ground colour; the 

 feathers of the mantle are margined with buffish-white, 

 which produces a creamy appearance; outer quills clay- 

 brown on the outer webs and paler on the inner webs; 

 upper and under tail-coverts rather boldly marked with 

 brown ; rectrices, on the contrary, rather finely mottled ; 

 bill ochre-yellow at the angle, thence blackish to the tip; 

 tarsi and toes brownish. 



In its second year (that is, after the next autumn moult) 

 both upper and under surfaces are much lighter, and pale grey 

 feathers begin to show on the mantle, the outer primaries 

 being all but white. 



We now come to the plumage which has hitherto remained 

 undescribed, namely, that of the third year. The mottlings 

 on the upper surface gradually disappear, and for a short 

 time the bird wears a white dress. The specimen exhibited 



