NO. 4.] THE SIBERIAN COAST. 11 



Larus glaucus, Fabr. 1780. 



A few specimens were observed at Kbabarova from July 30th to August 

 2nd, and also one or two subsequently in the Kara Sea; but none can 

 be said with certainty to have been seen farther east. On Reno (Kjell- 

 man Islands), on August 20th and 21st, some large gulls were seen in the 

 distance that were supposed to belong to this species. 



? Larus fuscus, Lin. 1766. 



On July 30th, in Yugor Strait, off Khabarova, a few specimens of a 

 gull were observed, that possibly belonged to the above species. The back 

 was slate-coloured, but seemed to be a shade lighter than in L. fuscus: the 

 species may have been L. fuscus, or possibly L. affinis, Reinh. 1853. 



On the Kjellman Islands (off Reno), on August 21st, a few gulls were 

 again seen, belonging to one of the smaller, black-backed species (74 46' 

 N. Lat.). 



? Larus argentatus, Gmel. 1788. 



On August 21st, on the Kjellman Islands (Reno, 74 46' N. Lat., 85 

 42' E. Long.) a specimen of a large, light-backed species of gull was ob- 

 served, with black spots on the tips of the wings. As L. argentatus is stated 

 by other writers (Middendorff, Bunge) to have been observed eastwards as 

 far as the mouths of the Lena and Yana, it. is possible that this bird be- 

 longed to that species, and if so, probably to the variety L. vegae, 

 Palmen 1886. 



This last variety, described in "Vega-Expeditionens vetenskapliga Arbeten" 

 (Vol. V, p. 370) in 1886, differs from the typical L. argentatus (from Northern 

 and Western Europe) in being of a considerably darker colour on the back 

 and the upper surface of the wings 1 . It was found during the Vega Expe- 

 dition in the spring and summer of 1879, on the Tchuktchi Coast, in large 

 numbers. According to Palmen's investigations (1. c. p. 376), it is probable 

 that the L. argentatus found by Middendorff in the Taimur Land in 1843, 



1 The feet, however, are flesh-coloured, as in the typical species, not yellow, as in L. 

 affinis 



