ICELAND GULL. 645 



wings more tapering when closed. Further, it appeared to 

 me that the Glaucous Gulls, when resting on the mud, and 

 with the wings closed, carried the tips of the wings higher 

 than the end of the tail, hut that the Iceland Gulls carried 

 their wings on the same, or nearly the same level as the tail; 

 thus imparting to these birds a more tidy, trim appearance 

 than their big brothers possessed. Those who have watched 

 the tame Goose of our farm-yards, and have had opportuni- 

 ties of comparing with it the lighter, handsomer form of the 

 tamed Grey-lag Goose (Anser ferus) , will more easily under- 

 stand some of the comparisons I have above drawn. When 

 flying, the action of the Iceland Gull is more airy and buoyant 

 less owl-like than that of the Glaucous Gull. The adults, 

 when flying low or against a dark cloud, show the white 

 primaries, like a narrow strip of silver, along the wing." 



Mr. Harvie-Brown adds that the Iceland Gull is by 

 far the most wary species of Gull frequenting the Firth of 

 Forth, the adults being especially shy. On the coast of 

 England it is naturally a rarer visitant ; nevertheless, 

 immature specimens have been obtained along the entire 

 coast as far as Cornwall, although at irregular intervals. A 

 large number visited the neighbourhood of Penzance in Jan- 

 uary and February 1873 ; in the winter of 1874-5, after 

 long-continued gales, both young and old were numerous 

 on the coast of South Devon ; and Mr. Cecil Smith has 

 recorded the occurrence of an immature example on the 12th 

 of December, 1881, so far inland as Somerton, which is 

 almost in the middle of the county of Somerset. On its 

 migration northwards this species has been observed by Mr. 

 Cordeaux in the Humber district as late as the 18th of 

 April. 



In Ireland Mr. R. Warren states that about the estuary 

 of the Moy immature birds are occasionally seen in winter, 

 but not every year; and on one occasion he observed an 

 adult specimen on the 7th of May, 1875 (Zool. 1877, p. 

 326). On other parts of the coast it would appear to be of 

 rare and irregular occurrence. 



The Iceland Gull is a winter visitor to the Faeroes, Nor- 



