LARIDE. 669 
THE GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL. 
Larus ICHTHYAETUS, Pallas. 
An example of this south-eastern species, which almost attains 
the dimensions of our Great Black-backed Gull, was recorded by 
Mr. F. W. L. Ross (Ann. & Mag. N. H. (3) iv. p. 467) as having 
been shot off Exmouth, about the end of May or early in June 
1859, when in company with a flock of commoner members of the 
family. This bird, now in the Exeter Museum, is an adult in 
summer-plumage; its history appears to be satisfactory, and it 
cannot be suspected of having escaped from confinement, for no 
instance was known of this species having been in captivity until 
an adult was brought to the Zoological Society’s Gardens in June 
1891. 
Even in the Mediterranean the Great Black-headed Gull is only 
found in the extreme eastern portion known as the Levant, where it 
has been met with in Cyprus, and on the shores and lakes of 
Palestine. It is common in Egypt and as far up the Nile as Nubia; 
while it occurs in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and thence 
along the coast line to India. Inthe Black Sea it is decidedly 
rare; but it breeds in great numbers on the Seal Islands in the 
Caspian and on the low-lying shores of that sea, as well as on the 
lakes of Turkestan ; while Dr. Finsch noted its arrival on the Ala- 
