LARID^ — THE GULLS AND TERNS — PAGOPHILA. 



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after in the Firth of Clyde. In 1834 a similar occurrence was noted by Mr. Sabine 

 on the western coast of Ireland ; and another has since been recorded near Gal way. 

 More recently there have been several of these birds obtained in Great Britain. Teni- 

 luiuok with his own hands shot one on the coast of Holland. Vieillot records this 

 spocies as having appeared on the coast of France. Nilsson states that it is seen occa- 

 sionally in winter both in Sweden and in the 

 northern part of Scandinavia. It is given by 

 ^lidilendorff as one of the birds of Siberia, 

 where it is said to be found only in the ex- 

 treme north. 



Messrs. Evans and Sturge, in their paper 

 on tlie Birds of Western Spitzbergen, state 

 that of the beautiful snow-white Ivory Gull 

 tlioy saw only six or seven individuals ; and 

 iilthough both of the examples that they killed 

 had their bellies bare of feathers, as is the 

 rase with sitting birds, all endeavors to find 

 where they were breeding failed. The sailors 

 as.serted that this bird was never seen except- 

 ing upon ice ; and in only one instance was this statement proved to be incorrect. 



I'rofessor Alfred Newton, in his Notes on the Birds of Spitzbergen, referring to 

 this species, remarks : — 



" The Ivory Gull is, of all others, the bird of which every visitor to Spitzbergen 

 will carry away the keenest recollection. One can only Avish that a creature so 

 fair to look upon was not so foul a feeder. Contrary to the experience of all other 

 observers, I once saw an Ivory Gull, of its own accord, deliberately settle on the 

 water and swim. This was in the Stor Fjord. There is a very great variation in 

 the size of different examples, which is not to be attributed to sex nor to age ; but 

 I do not for one moment countenance the belief in a second species, which some 

 ornithologists have endeavored to establish under the name of P. brachytarsa." 



The Swedish expedition to Spitzbergen in 18G1 obtained some eggs of this species ; 

 and these were the first well-authenticated specimens taken to Europe. I transcribe 

 wliat Dr. Malmgren says about them : — 



" On the 7th of July, 1861, 1 found on the north shore of Murchison Bay, lat. 80° K, 

 a nnniber of Ivory Gulls established on the side of a steep limestone precipice, some 

 luuulred feet high, in company with the Eissa tridactyla and Lm^us (jlaueus. The 

 last-named occupied the higher zones of the precipice. The Lams ebnmeus, on the 

 otlier hand, occupied the inches and clefts lower down, at a height of from fifty to a 

 hundred feet. I could plainly see that the hen birds were sitting on their nests ; but 

 those were inaccessible. Circumstances did not permit, before the 30th of July, my 

 making the attempt, with the help of a long rope and some necessary assistance, to 

 get at the eggs. With the assistance of three men I succeeded in reaching two of 

 tlu' lowest in situation ; and each contained one egg. The nest was artless and with- 

 out connection, and consisted of a shallow depression eight or nine inches broad, in 

 a loose clay or mould, on a siddayer of limestone. Inside, the nest was carefully 

 lined with dry plants, moss, grasses, and the like, and a few feathers. The eggs 

 wore much incubated, and already contained down-clad young. Both of the hen- 

 hirds were shot upon their nests, and are now in the National Museum. The male 

 hinls were at first observable, but disappeared when we began the work of reaching 

 their nests." 



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