GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL. 



LARUS ICHTHYAETUS, Pall. 



Larus ickthyaetus, Pall. Reise Russ. Reicks, ii. App. p. 713 

 (1773); Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 609; Dresser, viii. p. 369.. 



The only specimen of this fine Gull that has been 

 hitherto recorded to have occurred in England was shot 

 near the mouth of the river Exe by one Mr. Pine, a 

 boatman, about the end of May 1859, and is now pre- 

 served in the Exeter Museum. It is an adult in full 

 summer plumage. I find that the best-known breeding- 

 quarters of this Gull are on the islands and low-lying 

 shores of the Caspian Sea and the lakes of Turkestan. 

 It is certainly very uncommon in the Mediterranean, and 

 I never met with it on any part of that sea, but it is by 

 no means rare on the Nile during the winter months ; 

 it occurs on the Red Sea, at Aden, and on both sides of 

 the Persian Gulf it is reported to be abundant. This is 

 by far the largest of the "hooded" Gulls of the Old 

 World, and, in common with the rest of this group, is 

 not a rock-breeding bird. 



