298 LARID^E. 



good deal of confusion about the supposed breeding of this bird 

 in Spain, and as I have in some degree contributed to this I will 

 do my best to clear matters up. I saw and have specimens of 

 this Gull from Malaga and also from the Trocadero, near Cadiz, 

 and I had eggs said to have been taken with the birds (which I 

 examined) in the marisma. I also saw a colony, apparently 

 breeding, below Huelva, but the steamer in which I had taken 

 my passage whistled me back before I could land. The eggs above 

 mentioned have proved to be those of the Gull-billed Tern ; so 

 were those obtained by Mr. Abel Chapman ('Ibis,' 1884, p. 86), 

 who shot an Adriatic Gull near them * ; so were those acquired 

 by Mr. Dresser (save one, which is a Sandwich Tern's) ; and I 

 do not know of an authenticated egg of L. melanoceplialus from 

 Spain. 



" Of course I had not seen the eggs when I inserted the 

 ' advanced notes ' furnished by Mr. Dresser in my ' Manual of 

 British Birds ' ; the whole account will be cancelled in the next 

 edition. 



" I think it is probable that the species will be found nesting 

 along the coast or on the etangs of the Landes between Bayonne 

 and Bordeaux, because the birds visit St. Jean de Luz in spring 

 and also the mouth of the Gironde." 



Bill stouter than last. 



In summer. Head jet-black. 



Adults. Primaries white, except the first, which has the outer web 

 margined with black. 



Young. Outer webs and shafts of first five primaries dark brown, outside 

 of inner web of third primary white. Length 15 inches. 



340. Larus canus, Linnaeus. The Common Gull. 

 This Gull is not mentioned by Favier, but is during some 

 winters common in the Straits of Gibraltar. 



In spring. Head and neck white ; mantle pale grey ; bill and legs 

 greenish yellow ; former yellow at point. 



* But this bird was not brought home for identification. 



