SABINE^S GULL. 313 



Ireland. It was shot in company with terns (Sterna!) in the 

 Bay of Dublin, on the 12th of September, 1837, and came into 

 the possession of H. H. Dombrain, Esq., of that city. This gen- 

 tleman has kindly informed me that the specimen corresponds 

 with my description of the L. Sabini in the plumage of the fii-st 

 year (Mag. Zool. and Bot, vol. i. p. 460) in every respect but one, 

 that of having ' the under part of the throat and upper part of 

 the breast' white, instead of 'pale ash-colour,' as in the first 

 bird described. 



" The seasons of the occurrence of Z. Sabini in Ireland approxi- 

 mate very closely, though the birds were all obtained in different 

 years. In Belfast Bay, they were shot on the 15th and 18th of 

 September, and in Dublin Bay on the 12th of the same month. 

 The date when the first specimen was procured at the latter locality 

 is unknown." — Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. i, p. 158. 



"Bee. 1838. — The four individuals above noticed are all which 

 have yet been positively recorded as obtained on the British 

 shores. 



" In the Appendix to Ross's Second Voyage, p. xxxvii., it is 

 remarked, under the head of Larus Sabini — ' I have lately heard 

 that it has also been found on tlie west coast of Ireland.' By 

 Capt. James C. Boss, the author of the zoological portion of the 

 volume, I have been told that this information was derived from 

 the late Joseph Sabine, Esq. The article on L. Sabini was 

 written by Capt. Boss early in 1834, in the month of April in 

 which year I first announced the species as having been obtained 

 in Ireland. Mr. Sabine was present when the communication was 

 read to the Linnean Society, and, in expressing his gratification to 

 me on the addition of the species (of which he was the original 

 describer) to the British Eauna, said nothing of its occurrence on 

 any part of the British shores being known to him. Erom his 

 remarks, indeed, I am certain that he was not at that time aware 

 of any British specimens, and as he did not subsequently record 

 any fact of the kind, I am induced to believe that it was merely 

 the individuals announced to the Linnean Society that were al- 

 luded to, with the error of the " west " being substituted for the 



