424 LARID^ LARUS 



p. 165 (1896); Beichenow, Vbcj. Afr. i, p. 41 (1900); VanUffen 

 Journ. Orniih. 1901, p. 309 ; Oates, Gat. B. Eggs, i, p. 212 (1901). 

 Dominicanus vetula, Biuch. Journ. Ornith. 1853, p. 100: 

 Larus sp. Grill'K. Vet. Akad. Hamdl. ii, no. 10, p. 57 (1858). 

 Larus vetula, Ourney, in Andcrsson's B. Damaral, p. 357 (1872) ; 

 Shelleij, Ibis, 1875 p. 86. 



Description. Adult Male. — Head and neck all round, rump, tail 

 and underparts throughout white ; mantle and wings slaty-black ; 

 primary quills black, the first with a white subterminal marking 

 and tip, the others, secondaries and scapulars with white tips 

 only ; in very old birds the subterminal white marking fuses with 

 the white tip of the first primary, and there is a subterminal 

 marking on the second quill. 



Iris greyish with a narrow red rim of skin round the eyeball; 

 bill yellow with an orange-red patch at the tip of the lower 

 mandible; legs bluish yellow. 



Length about 24-0 ; wing 17-0 ; tail 6-75 ; culmen 2-6 ; tarsus 

 2'7. The female resembles the male but usually has a somewhat 

 smaller bill. 



Young birds are white thickly mottled with brown above and 

 below, the brown mottling tending to form bars on the upper and 

 under tail-coverts ; the wing and tail-quills are nearly uniform 

 brown : iris dark hazel ; bill dark brown ; legs brown. Later on 

 the mantle becomes slaty, the rump and tail-coverts white and the 

 streaks of brown disappear from the head and underparts, but the 

 tail and wing-quills remain a uniform brown for some time; probably 

 the adult plumage is not attained till at least the third year. 



Distribution. — The Southern Black-backed Gull is spread over 

 the seas and islands of the great Southern Ocean including the 

 coasts of temperate South America, South Africa and New Zealand. 

 Along our coasts it has been recorded from Walvisch Bay to Durban' 

 and is common everywhere. It is exceedingly abundant in Table 

 Bay and False Bays, where it can be seen at all times of the year. 

 I have not heard of its occurrence north of Durban, where it appears 

 to be less common than on the coasts of the Colony. 



Habits.— The Southern Black-backed Gull only differs from its 

 northern relative, the Black-backed Gull of the British seas, in its 

 slightly smaller size and darker coloration. It is very common in 

 Table Bay where it picks up a good living from the garbage thrown 

 overboard from the numerous ships lying at anchor there ; it is an 

 undiscriminating and voracious feeder, congregating round the dead 



