377 



harbour of Mandrachio, at Corfu. This species arrives about the end of October, and leaves the 

 country about the beginning of March." 



Messrs. Elwes and Buckley, writing on the Birds of Turkey, observe : — 



" Very numerous in Greece and Macedonia, in February, and in Bulgaria in April (Ibis, 

 1859, pp. 362, 363). The Little Gull frequents marshes and lakes, hawking in the manner of a 

 Swallow for insects, which constitute its chief food. We could not make out where they went 

 to at night, as they all disappeared about sunset, probably going off to the coast to roost. An 

 instance of the breeding of this species at Kustendji has been recorded by Dr. Cullen (Ibis, 1867, 

 p. 248)." Mr. George Cavendish Taylor tells us that he has seen the present species abundant 

 near Constantinople, notably so in the Golden Horn. 



Professor von Nordmann says "the shores of the salt lakes in the south of Russia are alive 

 with entire colonies of these birds, which nest there." A full account of the breeding of the 

 Little Gull in the north of Russia is given below, while its furthest range to the eastward in 

 Siberia seems to be recorded by Middendorff. He says that he shot it on the Lena, on the 22nd 

 of May, south of Jakiits'k. He also found it not rare on the Stanoroi mountains and on the 

 southern shores of the sea of Ochotsk. Once has it been procured in India by Major Irby, who 

 thus records the circumstance in his paper on the birds of Oudh and Kumaon : — " I killed a 

 specimen of this Gull, in its winter dress, in January 1859, near Jehangirabad ; it was exceedingly 

 tame, allowing me to approach within two or three yards." 



Mr. W. H. Hudleston has given the following interesting account of the Little Gull in his 

 'Fortnight in the Dobrudscha': — 



"The first object that greeted my arrival in port was a flock of Little Gulls {L. minutus) 

 flying about in the harbour. This I considered a good omen, and even indulged in hopes of 

 finding their breeding-quarters, as many were already in good plumage. This species was sub- 

 sequently noticed in immense numbers between the 20th and 24th, especially on the first of the 

 above dates. At that time the bulk of the flocks were frequenting a lake of fresh water called 

 ' Sud Geul,' which extends for several miles in a northerly direction, parallel to the sea, from 

 which it is separated by a narrow isthmus. On this occasion the flocks of L. minutus, associated 

 with a few individuals of Sterna cantiaca, were literally swarming in the ah a few feet above the 

 surface of the water, like Swallows over a river on a summer's evening. Far as the eye could 

 reach, looking northwards down the lake, these elegant little birds were to be seen on the feed, 

 dashing to and fro most actively. In most of them the head and upper part of the neck were of 

 a brilliant jet-black, producing a singular effect in the mass when contrasted with the white of 

 the rest of the plumage. Upon those which were nearest a faint rosy tinge, confined to the 

 upper part of the breast, was also noticeable. This, I think, is more marked in the living bird 

 than in preserved specimens. In the distance they looked like mosquitoes over the water, the 

 flocks probably extending to the furthest end of the lake, which cannot be less than eight or ten 

 miles off. Here, then, it seemed, was the home of the birds, for which the late John Wolley and 

 myself, misled by a false description, had vainly sought in Oland during the spring of 1856. 

 The isthmus between the lake and the sea, uneven with swampy hollows and dry hillocks that 

 support a coarse and scanty vegetation, might surely be their appropriate breeding-places, where, 

 in company with Terns, Pratincoles, Stilts, et hoc genus omne, they might be expected towards 



