370 



small white spot ; tail white, with a broad subapical black band ; beak paler than in the adult, the 

 vertical black band being much larger. 



Nestling (Volga) . Covered with soft, whitish down, which on the back, head, neck, and sides of the body is 

 tinged with dull grey ; bill blackish, yellow at the tip. 



This giant amongst the Black-headed Gulls is an East-European and Asiatic species, only 

 occasionally penetrating into Central or Western Europe. It has, however, on one occasion 

 been met with in Great Britain. Mr. F. W. L. Ross, writing in the ' Annals of Natural History,' 

 1859, vol. iv. p. 467, states that " one was shot by a boatman, Mr. W. Pine, when employed by 

 W. Taylor, Esq., of Bridgewater, who was engaged in fishing for bass in the river off Exmouth, 

 about the end of May or the beginning of June last ; it was in company with a flock of ordinary 

 Gulls. Its remarkable size and appearance attracted the attention of the boatman, who, having 

 his gun with him, singled it out, and fortunately obtained the bird, which has since been kindly 

 presented by the above-mentioned gentleman to the writer." It is now in the Exeter Museum. 



The specimens of this Gull, which are now to be had through the dealers, appear all to 

 come from Sarepta, on the Volga, through Mr. H. F. Moschler, of Herrnhut, in Saxony. My 

 friend Mr. Sabanaeff informs me that it inhabits the shores of the Caspian ; Bogdanoff observed 

 it on the delta of the Volga; and, according to Arzibascheff and Rickbeil, it breeds on the 

 southern part of the Sarpa, and especially on the borders of the lakes Barbautzak, Khana, and 

 Ozaga-Nour. The only parts of Southern Europe west of Russia from which I find it recorded 

 are, according to Degland and Gerbe, Switzerland and Hungary ; and to Greece it is, according to 

 Lindermayer, a rare visitor. Professor von Nordmann writes that it is very common in the 

 Caspian, but rare in the Black Sea. M. Menetries observed it near Bakou, and on the island 

 of Marghin, in the Caspian. Canon Tristram met with it in Palestine, and has kindly lent me 

 for examination a magnificent specimen obtained by him on the sea of Galilee. Writing in 

 'The Ibis' for 1868 on the avifauna of Palestine, he says that "the Gulls and Terns were 

 equally abundant with the Grebes in the winter and spring on the sea of Galilee. From 

 morning to night they pass and repass up and down its short length — the magnificent Larus 

 ichthyaetus in particular making the circuit of the lake close to the edge, and always within shot, 

 as though to keep himself in exercise. We got this royal Sea-Gull, in the finest possible 

 plumage, in the month of March. Where they go to breed I cannot say ; they certainly do not 

 breed in Palestine; probably they take an easy flight to the Red Sea and enjoy their spring 

 among its coral-reefs." It is found in North-eastern Africa ; and Captain Shelley writes that it 

 " ranges throughout Egypt and Nubia, and is far from uncommon. In the Fayoom I met with 

 it daily on Birket el Korn, and frequently shot it in full plumage in February, and have also 

 noticed it as high up the Nile as El Kab. It is likewise abundant on the coasts of the Red Sea and 

 Mediterranean." To the eastward it is met with in India, where, according to Dr. Jerdon, it was 

 then rare ; and he himself only met with it " on the sea-coast, at Madras, and at the head of the 

 Bay of Bengal, occasionally coming up the mouth of the Hooghly and other large rivers." 

 Mr. A. O. Hume, however, on the other hand, writes to me that " the Great Black-backed Gull 

 is common enough along our Indian coasts, and about all large inland lakes or broads towards 

 the north and west of India, but only during the cold season. I have seen them off Bombay, 



