THE HERRING-GULL. 367 



thirty adult and young appeared on a low rock, and at another 

 place a few were seen. 



In the month of August 1826, I met with both young and old 

 herring-gulls on the eastern and western shores of Italy, and in 

 June 1841, at a high rocky islet near Pares. 



The following communication which T made to the Zoological 

 Society of London in 1835, is here copied from the 'Proceed- 

 ings' of that year, p. 83 : — 



" Having lately submitted six mature specimens of the lierring-guU 

 of tlie north of Ireland to a critical examination, similar to that pur- 

 sued in the second volume of the ' Northern Zoology,' by Mr. Swain- 

 son and Dr. Richardson, I ascertained their identity with L. argenta- 

 toides of that work (vol. ii. p. 417). The largest and the smallest 

 of these specimens differed in total length from 22^ to 24^ inches, and 

 in their tarsi from 27 to 32 lines. The second quUl in two individuals 

 exhibited, in addition to the white tip, " a round white spot in its 

 inner web," in this respect agreeing with the L. argentatoides, as 

 described in the ' Northern Zoology,' and previously by C. L. Bona- 

 parte, in his ' Synopsis of the Birds of the United States ' (Ann. 

 Lye. New York, vol. ii. p. 360) ; the second cpiill in three of the others 

 wants this white spot, in which particular it agrees with that of the 

 L. argodatus, as coutradistinguished by Bonaparte from the L. argen- 

 tatoides {vide as above) : the same quill on the sixth specimen is in an 

 intermediate state, a round white spot not more than one-eighth of an 

 inch across, appearing on it in the one wing, the second quill of the 

 other wing in the same individual exhibiting a white spot fully half an 

 inch in diameter ; thus proving that this marking is so inconstant that 

 it should not be relied on as a character." 



I have been pleased to see that L. argentatoides does not ap- 

 pear as distinct from L. argentatus in the Prince of Musignano's 

 Comparative List of the Birds of Europe and North America, 

 published in 1838. M. Temminck considers the two names to 

 apply but to the one species {' Manuel,' part iv. 1840). 



Notes on the Gohbins and Lamhay, with a Description of the 

 Manner of Descending Rocks for Birds and Eggs. 

 When visiting, in May 1849, the range of cliffs, called the 



