442 



frequents the east side of Baffin Bay, migrating to New 

 York State in winter. 



ICELAND GULL. Larus leucopterus (Faber). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, ' Birds of Great Britain,' vol. v, pi. 

 58 ; Dresser, * Birds of Europe,' vol. viii, pi. 606; Lilford, 

 ' Coloured Figures,' vol. vi, pi. 28. 



Another of the Northern-breeding Gulls, which, in any 

 stage of plumage, may be identified from our native birds 

 by its whitish primaries (Plate XL VI., figs. 1 and 2). As 

 in the case of the Glaucous Gull, its visitations are uncer- 

 tain, and its numbers fluctuate considerably. 



It was first identified as a British visitor in March, 1823, 

 in the Shetlands, by the late Dr. Lawrence Edmonston, and 

 since has been noticed in these islands for several seasons 

 (Saxby). 



Along the Scottish coasts it is not infrequent, and is a 

 regular visitor to the Outer Hebrides, where it was particu- 

 larly abundant in the winter of 1901-2 (Harvie-Brown). 



On the Irish sea-board it is probably more widely spread 

 as a visitor than the data which have been furnished from 

 observations and captures would lead us to suppose. 



But along the English 1 and Welsh coasts it is com- 

 paratively scarce, albeit it has been taken at irregular 

 intervals, even from the extreme south. 



Similar to the Glaucous Gull in its migratory move- 

 ments, it occurs as a mere straggler during some seasons 

 when solitary birds (more rarely two or three) may be 

 found associating with great flocks of Herring-Gulls and 

 other plentiful species ; at other times quite an invasion 

 has been observed along a particular coast, and it is note- 

 worthy that a similar invasion of Glaucous Gulls often takes 

 place at the same time. Illustrative of this fact w r e find 

 that large numbers of both these Northern species reached 

 the Firth of Forth in the winter of 1872-3. During the 

 same season, and two years later, Iceland Gulls were 

 plentiful along the southern shores of England (Saunders). 



1 Thus Mr. A. Patterson records only five Iceland Gulls from Great 

 Yarmouth between the years 1852 and 1899 (' Zoologist,' 1901, p. 296). 



