

HERRING GULL. 621 



extends across that portion of the continent which lies south 

 of the Arctic circle, for Vosnesensky obtained it at Kodiak. 

 Examples from high northern latitudes have even a some- 

 what paler mantle than those from more temperate regions, 

 although the transition is very gradual ; and this light form 

 has received the name of L. argentatoides. From British 

 Columbia to Lower California our Herring Gull is replaced 

 by a very distinct member of the same group, L. occidentalis, 

 Audubon, with a mantle as dark as that of many examples 

 of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, from which species it may 

 be distinguished by its stouter bill, coarser, flesh-coloured 

 feet, and by the pattern of the primary quills, which is, on 

 the whole, akin to that which prevails *in the grey-mantled 

 division. From Labrador southwards, the Herring Gull 

 occurs on the coast, inland lakes, and large rivers of North 

 America, down to Texas, Cuba, and the Bermudas, and it 

 probably crosses Mexico, as examples have been obtained on 

 the Pacific side of Central America. 



On the more sun-lit southern coasts of Europe commenc- 

 ing at western France, continuing along the Iberian Penin- 

 sula, and throughout the Mediterranean we find a resident 

 species, L. cachinnans, Pall. (L. leucophceus, Lichtenst.), 

 characterized by a darker mantle, yellow legs and feet, and 

 a ring round the outside of the eye of a deep orange-red ; but 

 presenting no constant difference in the pattern of the pri- 

 maries. This form goes up the Black Sea, and its breeding- 

 range extends across the low-lying salt-lake districts of 

 Russia from the mouths of the Volga and the shores of the 

 Caspian, as far north as the province of Archangel ; across 

 the Ural river and the Kirghis steppes, to the Irtisch and 

 Lake Baikal ; and to the Asiatic and Alaskan shores of the 

 Pacific. It migrates from the north in winter to the coasts 

 of Arabia, India, China, and Japan ; and it has been errone^ 

 ously identified with the very local L. occidentalis, Audubon : 

 a species which has never been known to stray from the 

 American side of the North Pacific. 



Another member of this group is the Siberian Herring Gull, 

 L. affinis, Reinhardt, named from a solitary specimen obtained 



