286 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



A few specimens of Sabine's Gull have from time to time 

 been obtained in this country, and also a very limited num- 

 ber on the Continent, but its true home is in the vicinity of 

 the Arctic Circle. The first specimens were procured by 

 Captain Sabine, during the northern expedition in 1818, 

 and birds of the same species were subsequently recognized 

 by other Arctic voyagers. They have been met with in 

 Spitzbergen and Behring Straits, and the first birds were 

 killed on a group of islands on the west coast of Greenland, 

 where they were breeding in company with the Arctic Terns, 

 laying their eggs on the bare ground. The eggs are two 

 or three in number, of an olive-brown ground-colour, spotted 

 with darker brown. 



THE LITTLE GULL. Larus minutus. This beautiful little 

 species is also rare in Britain, though various specimens have 

 been obtained in England, Scotland, and Ireland. Neither 

 its breeding-stations, nor its true winter localites, according 

 to Sir William Jardine, are yet correctly traced, though, 

 adds the same writer, it is stated by Professor Nillson that 

 it breeds in the marshes in the vicinity of the Baltic, and in 

 Gothland. Of its eggs and nest we can make no report. 



THE BLACK-HEADED GULL. Larus ridibundus. During 

 the winter season this species is generally distributed around 



