296 ASTOLA, A SUMMER CItUISE 



quite the tips. But in asiaticus the third quill has only about 

 the basal half of the shaft white, and the fourth aud succeeding 

 quills have only quite the basal portions white, the terminal por- 

 tions being- brown. A very small point ; but if you open the 

 wings side by side, the difference catches the eye at once. 



Besides this, I do not say that it is worth much ; but when a 

 man has for many years been examining carefully great numbers 

 of specimens of a vast number of species of all ages, he does ac- 

 quire a sort of instinctive feeling on these points ; the birds do not 

 seem to me to belong to the same species. 



The plumage is less dense and harsher in asiaticus, and there 

 are other similar minute points that though of no importance 

 singly, cumulatively incline me to believe that asiaticus is dis- 

 tinct—a belief strongly confirmed by the fact that our birds 

 appear to be permanent residents of the Persian Gulf and Gulf 

 of Oman, and have been noticed there, not only duriug the 

 autumn and winter, but also in May and June and throughout 

 the monsoons. 



I need scarcely remark that our bird is too small for the 

 Pomarine Skua, but I may note that it lacks the shagreen like 

 backs to the tarsi which characterize that species. 



For the long-tailed Skua, all its dimensions were rather too 

 laro-e ; its tarsi were black, not leaden blue, and it exhibits no 

 trace of any crest. 



We must, of course, patiently await further specimens before 

 expressing a positive opinion, but in the meantime, most cer- 

 tainly, no sufficient evidence exists for uniting asiaticus with 

 Kichardson's Skua, which latter has never been observed east 

 of the Cape of Good Hope, and which even on the western 

 coast of Africa is only a winter visitant. — A. 0. H.J 



981 ter— Larus hemprichii, Bonap. 



This was the only species of Gull we saw during the trip, and 

 all about the coast from Kurrachee to Jashk it was more or less 

 plentiful. The island of Astola, however, seemed to be its 

 head-quarters, and there we found them collected in thousands, 

 doubtless for breeding purposes. Unfortunately, we arrived too 

 soon. There were no eggs on the date we landed (29th May), 

 although for two miles the island was covered with the birds 

 sitting about as tame as barn-door fowls, and uttering that pecu- 

 liarly mournful cry which they keep up all through the breed- 

 ing season, and cavities in the sand, looking like nest holes 

 were scratched in every direction. I was greatly disappointed 

 at the time at not getting a single egg, and tried to get a boat 

 sent there for the eggs from Gwadar ten or twelve days later, 

 but the sea got rough ; and the boatmen were afraid of getting 



