Vol. xxix.] 120 



examined ; but, so far as my investigations Lave gone, males 

 of the ligbt-backecl British race seem to have shorter -wings 

 and longer and stouter bills than the dark -backed Scandi- 

 navian race. 



" It is thus evident that there are at least two races of the 

 Lesser Black-backed Gull, viz. : — 



" (1) The typical Scandinavian or dark-backed race of 



Linnaeus — Larus fuscus fuscus ; and 

 " (2) A western or light-backed race, which I have 

 separated as Larus fuscus hritannicus [Brit. Birds, 

 vol. vi. No. 1, p. 2 (1912)]. 

 " The types of this British race which are exhibited are 

 preserved in the British Museum and come from Caithness 

 in Scotland. For the purposes of comparison, two birds of 

 the typical dark-backed race are also shown — viz., one from 

 Vaxholm near Stockholm in Sweden, kindly sent to me by 

 Prof. Einar Lonnbergj and one from Drobak in Norway, 

 kindly lent by Prof. R. Collett. 



" I may state that Prof. Lonnberg informs me that, after 

 comparison with eleven other examples in his collection, he 

 finds that the example sent is a quite normal and typical 

 specimen. 



" As regards the dark-backed examples of L. fuscus which 

 I have already referred to, from Cyprus, Palestine, and Egypt, 

 I regard these as examples of tlie typical Scandinavian race 

 wintering in the Eastern Mediterranean ; while, on the other 

 hand, examples from such localities as Morocco, Algiers, and 

 the south of Spain represent, in my opinion, birds of the light- 

 backed British race wintering in the Western Mediterranean. 

 Erom this I conclude that these two races of the Lesser 

 Black-backed Gull have two distinct lines of migration : — 

 " (1) The Scandinavian or typical race [Larus fuscus 

 fuscus) migrates southwards across Eastern Europe 

 (possibly by way of the Rivers Vistula and Dnieper) 

 to winter in the Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, and 

 the Red Sea. 

 " (2) On the other hand, representatives of the Western 

 race, following the Atlantic coasts of Europe, 



