576 Mr. D. A. Bannerman on the 



are representatives of another race meriting the distinction 

 of subspecific rank, the material at present to liancl is too 

 meagre to allow me to say. It may, however, be pointed 

 out that the Lesser Black-backed Gull breeds in at least one 

 locality off the Moroccan coast (Alboran Island, Lilford), 

 and extends southwards along the West African shores as far 

 as Bonny {Saunders) ; so that it is very possible that these 

 local birds Avander in winter to the Canaries and Madeira, 

 or to places like Valencia on the Mediterranean shores, 

 Avhere they may be found along with representatives of the 

 light-backed or more northerly race, Larus fuscus hritan- 

 nicus. These points I am now endeavouring to clear up." 



I may remark that the colour of the back in specimens 

 from the Canary Islands is intermediate between that of 

 L. fuscus and L.f. britannicus. 



I paid a flying visit to Gran Canaria on June 1st of this 

 year and had hopes of procuring a series of the bird iu 

 question. However, in this I was disappointed, as the 

 harbour w^as entirely deserted by Gulls, and, I was told, had 

 been so for at least a month. At the time when I left Las 

 Palmas previously, on March 1 1th, the Gulls were very 

 plentiful, as the following notes which I have made during 

 many visits to this island will prove. 



In the winter months the Lesser Black-backed Gull is the 

 commonest species frequenting Las Palmas harbour, where a 

 number of both adult and immature birds may always be 

 seen round the shipping or else flying leisurely along the 

 coast. Every evening before dusk I used to notice a long- 

 line of these Gnlls crossing the isthmus of sand which joins 

 the Isleta to the mainland, and finally disappearing over the 

 precipitous ground which borders Confital Bay, to roost in 

 the high clift's of Guanarteme. Whether they breed in the 

 islands I have been unable to discover. There seems no 

 reason wliy they should not do so, and especially on the 

 little island of Alegranza. Unfortunately, no one has yet 

 visited the outlying islets in the breeding-season. Larus 

 cacldnnans, on the other hand, is said by Mr. I\Ieade-Waldo 

 to breed on most of the islands. 



