108 BRITISH BIRDS WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



Family LARJD^E. Subfamily LAR1N&. 



IVORY GULL. 



Pagophila eburnea, PHIPPS. 



'TpHIS beautiful Gull, a true native of the Arctic regions, is a frequent visitor 

 _L to this country. As might be expected, it is most frequently to be seen in 

 the more northern regions of our islands. It has, since its first notice in 1822, been 

 recorded on more than thirty occasions, both adults and young, and from all 

 parts, down both coasts of England and Scotland, to Sussex on the east and 

 Cornwall on the west. In Ireland it has not been observed so frequently. The 

 bird is rarely seen so far from its haunts as our shores, except in winter, and 

 especially in severe seasons. 



The Ivory Gull is at home all round the polar regions, and nests in a 

 latitude higher than almost any other bird Its eggs have been found in 80 N. 

 latitude, and Nansen saw the birds in from 82 21' north southward as far as Franz 

 Josef Land, in large numbers. In winter, it migrates " as far as the coast of 

 France and Lake Leman (once); and New Brunswick in America" (Saunders). 

 In the North Pacific it is rare, though found on the Asiatic side of Bering 

 Straits. 



In summer plumage, the Ivory Gull, often called the Ivory Whale-Gull and the 

 " Snow-bird," is entirely ivory white ; the bill is greenish grey to the front of the 

 nostrils, then tipped with rich yellow, flushed with red ; a ring round the eye 

 vermilion, or brick- red; legs and feet black. Length 19 inches; wing 14; 

 tail 6 ; tarsus \\ ; middle toe and its claw if. 



The female is similar to the male, but slightly smaller and with, if anything, 

 a smaller tarsus. 



As to the nidification of this species Professor Collett has given an interesting 

 account, in "The Ibis" for 1888, p. 440, from material and notes brought him by 

 Captain Johannesen, from Stor-oen island, off the east pf Cape Smith, Spitzbergen, 

 in 80 9' N. latitude. On the 8th of August when he [Captain Johannesen] 

 visited the island, he found young birds in all stages, from newly hatched to 

 fully fledged, together with a small number of eggs, which, however, were on the 

 point of hatching, and in all probability not one would have been left a week 



