1S/8.] MR. H.SAUNDERS ON THE LARINiE. 1/1 



names of L. cachhinans and L. oecidentalis ; but his birds are most 

 decidedly not the true L. oecidentalis of Audubon, which has never 

 as yet been obtained anywhere on the Asiatic shores. All Asiatic 

 birds show very distinctly the grey wedge in the outer primaries, 

 which L. oecidentalis never does : besides, their mantles are not 

 nearly dark enough for that species. I possess, or have examined, 

 a large series of specimens from almost all the localities I have 

 indicated, and have taken very little from descriptions ; indeed it 

 is necessary to rely in this matter on one's own observations, as the 

 confusion respecting this group is inconceivable to any one who has 

 not studied the question. In Japanese and Chinese specimens, all 

 obtained in winter, my collection is especially rich, owing to the 

 efforts of Capt. St. John, of H.M.S. ' Sylvia,' and Lieut. Stanley 

 Muggeridge, of H.M.S. ' Kestrel;' Professor Taczanowski has sent 

 me specimens from Lake Baikal, and Mr. W. Muloch and Mr. 

 Blanford examples from Kurrachee and the Mekran coast, whilst 

 as regards Russia and the Mediterranean Mr. Seebohm's and other 

 collections have been available. I may observe that I think it quite 

 possible that in individuals from more northern localities the feet may 

 not be so distinctly yellow as in examples breeding in the Mediter- 

 ranean, believing, as I do, that certain atmospheric conditions exercise 

 a considerable effect upon coloration. 



9. Larus affinis, Reinh. 



Larus affinis, Reinhardt, Vidensk. Meddel. 1853, p. 78, et Ibis, 

 1861, p. 17 (type examined, H. S.); Seebohmand H. Brown, Ibis, 

 1876, p. 452. 



Larus argentatus (partim), Midd. Sib. Reise, ii. p. 242. (The 

 description of the bird from Sea of Okhotsk clearly applies to this 

 species.) 



Larus cachinnans, Licht. Nomencl. Av. Mus. Berol. p. 99, nee 

 Pallas (specimens examined, H. S.). 



Larus fuscus, Jerdon, B. of India, ii. p. 830 (1864). 



Larus cachinnans, Meves, Ofv. k. Vetensk. Ak. Forh. 1871, p. 786 

 (Cholmogory) ; Heugl. Orn. N.O.-Afr. Bd. 2. Abth. ii. p. 1392 (nee 

 Pallas). 



Larus, sp.? No. 39, Heuglin (nee Pallas), Ibis, 1872, p. 65 

 (Novaya Zemlia and Waigats) : description can only apply to this 

 species. 



Larus oecidentalis, Hume, Stray Feath. 1873, p. 273 (nee 

 Audub.). 



Larus heuglini, Bree, B. Eur. 2nd ed. v. p. 58 (1876). 



Professor J. Reinhardt, of Copenhagen, was the first to discrimi- 

 nate and to confer a name upon an individual of this species which 

 had straggled to Greenland ; but for a knowledge of its habitat and 

 distribution we are indebted to Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie Brown, 

 who found it breeding upon the Petchora, where, however, it onlv 

 comes about 11th May, and retires southward ou the approach of 

 winter. The series of specimens brought home by these energetic 

 naturalists threw a light upon many points which had hitherto been 

 obscure, and showed the real position of numerous specimens from 



