658 SABINE’S GULL. 
Sabine shot two in breeding-dress in July 1823 in the Spitsbergen 
group, where birds were recognized by Parry’s Expedition in 1827 ; 
and the species is a visitor to Jan Mayen. In the Atlantic it has 
been met with as far south as the Bermudas and Texas; while 
in the Pacific it not only crosses the equator, but goes as far as 
lat. 12°S., nearly adult specimens in winter-plumage having been 
presented to me by Admiral Markham, from Callao Bay, where 
Staff(Commr. MacFarlane afterwards found it in swarms during the 
month of February. It thereby over-laps the habitat of the far 
larger X. furcata, another fork-tailed species, which has its head- 
quarters’ in the Galapagos Islands. 
The eggs, 2 in number, are laid on the bare ground, or on dry 
tussocks in marshes near the sea, and frequently in proximity to 
those of the Arctic Tern, with which bird this Gull often associates. 
They are brownish-olive in colour, with somewhat darker blotches 
near the larger end—much like those of the Arctic Skua in minia- 
ture: measurements 1'7 by 1°3in. The nestlings, hatched towards 
the end of July, are at first mottled with brown and dull yellow. 
The food consists of small fish, crustaceans, worms, insects and their 
larvee ; the note is harsh and clicking. 
The adult in summer-plumage has the head and neck lead-grey, 
encircled by a black collar; quills chiefly black, broadly tipped with 
white ; tail and under-parts white; mantle slate-colour; length 
13 in.; wing 10°75in. In winter the crown and forehead are white, 
but there is more or less black on the nape. The young bird in 
the plumage of the first autumn (figured below) is ash-grey on the 
upper-parts, barred with brown and dull white; when still younger 
it has a dark gorget. 
