658 LARID.E. 



to show the general line of this bird's migration in winter, 

 and to call attention to a fact which is very unusual with 

 Gulls : namely, that the adults which have visited our shores 

 equal, or even exceed in number the immature birds. 



In the Faeroes about six occurrences are on record ; and 

 on the coast of Norway, according to Mr. Collett, immature 

 birds occur every winter down to Tromsoe, 69 38' N. lat., 

 where they are known by the name of ' Hav-rype ' or Sea- 

 Ptarmigan, individuals in full plumage being rarely observed ; 

 but south of the Arctic circle only stragglers are met with. 

 It is worthy of remark, in connexion with this southern 

 migration, that, in his last trip to Spitsbergen, in September, 

 1882, Mr. A. H. Cocks did not meet with a single bird of 

 this species. It rarely enters the Baltic, but is a straggler 

 to the coast of Denmark and Northern Germany ; and 

 Temminck mentions (Manuel d'Orn. p. 498) having himself 

 killed a bird of this species, which was entirely white, in 

 spring, on the coast of Holland. It is a rare visitor to the 

 coast of France, and an adult was killed at Le Crotoy, 

 Somme, on the 13th September, 1869. A specimen which 

 was killed in winter, some years since, near Lausanne, in 

 Switzerland, has been recorded by Necker, and also by Schinz. 

 For particulars respecting the habits of the Ivory Gull, 

 we must consult the narratives of the explorers of high 

 northern latitudes. It has been observed by every visitor to 

 Spitsbergen, interesting details, embodying Dr. Malmgren's 

 account of his discovery of its eggs, being given by Professor 

 Newton (Ibis, 1865, p. 507) ; and, more recently, by the Rev. 

 A. E. Eaton (Zool. s.s. p. 3810). The latter says that the 

 ( Snow-birds,' as the sailors call the Ivory Gulls, were very 

 abundant, and many were shot : sometimes when swimming 

 and fishing for Crustacea or Clione borealis. They never 

 lie down like the Arctic Terns, but either walk or stand still ; 

 some of them walking far into the interior of the carcases 

 of the white whales, and emerging with their heads covered 

 with blood. At Wiede Bay and Cape Oetker some of the 

 nests seemed accessible, but neither young nor eggs were 

 then obtained. Dr. Malmgren had been more fortunate in 



