LARITS. 255 



General Dutribution. — The Lesser Black-backed Gull 

 breeds in Scandinavia, eastwards through Russia to the 

 Dwina, where, as on the shores o£ the Baltic, it is rare. 

 In winter it appfears to cross eastern Europe to the Black, 

 'Caspian, and eastern Mediterranean seas, Egypt, Nubia, the 

 Red sea, and ranges eastwards to the head of the Persian 

 Gulf. It has occurred on the Canary Islands. In the Gulf 

 of Aden it is said to be resident. East of the Dwina it is 

 represented by a larger form, the breeding-range of which 

 extends to the Yenesei and perhaps to the Lena, while in 

 ■winter it is found on the coasts of Somaliland, Arabia, 

 Mekran, and western India. 



Larus fuscus affinis. British Lesser Black- 

 backed Gull. 



Xarus afflnis Reinhardt, Vidensk. Meddel. Kjobenhavn 

 for 1853, 1854, p. 78 : Greenland. 



liarus fuscus Linn. ; Saunders, Gat. Birds JB. M. xxv. 1896, p. 250 



(part.) ; id. Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 675 (part.). 

 Larus fuscus britannicus Loioe, ' British Birds,^ vi. 1912, p. 2. 



i4;^ms=allied ot near akin. • 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A Resident and a Bird 

 ■of Passage in spring and autumn. It breeds locally both 

 inland and on the coasts and islands of the south of England 

 and Wales, the Isle of Man, Cumberland, Northumberland, 

 -and the Fame Islands ; commonly in Scotland and on the 

 islands to the north and west ; less plentifully in Ireland. 

 In autumn it is generally distributed on the coasts, but is 

 much less numerous in winter, especially in Scotland, when 

 the majority move southwards. 



General Distribution. — The British Lesser Black-backed 

 Gull breeds in the Faeroes, the Channel Islands, western 

 ■coasts of France and probably Spain, and on Alboran Island, 

 off the coast of Morocco. It winters in the western Mediter- 

 ranean, west Africa to the Gold Coast, the Madeira Group, 

 the Canary Islands, and the Azores. It is accidental in 

 ■Greenland, where the typo specimen was obtained. 



