396 



Girgenti. Lord Lilford found it breeding on the island of Toro, off Sardinia ; and I give his 

 notes below in extenso. 



Canon Tristram told Mr. Wright that he believed he saw it at Malta, but he might have 

 been mistaken. It occurs off the coasts of Greece, but is rare, as Dr. Kriiper remarks that he 

 never met with it. Lord Lilford says (Ibis, 1860, p. 356) that a fine specimen was killed near 

 Corfu in May 1857, and he believes that it is not very uncommon. According to Erhard it 

 winters in the Cyclades. Eastward of the Greek archipelago I do not find any reliable record 

 of its occurrence. Canon Tristram (Ibis, 1868, p. 330) states that he found it common on the 

 Lake of Galilee, in Palestine ; but all his specimens proved subsequently to be Larus canus ; and 

 Mr. E. C. Taylor states (Ibis, 1859, p. 55) that he saw what he believed to be this species some 

 distance above Cairo, but he did not succeed in obtaining one. According to Loche it is " found 

 on the shores of Algeria, where it breeds ;" but he gives no further details. 



Eut little is known respecting the habits of this rare Gull ; and indeed there is nothing of 

 any importance on record, excepting some excellent notes by Lord Lilford (who was fortunate 

 enough to find it breeding off Sardinia), which I transcribe as follows (Ibis, 1875, p. 30) : — 

 "A good many Herring-Gulls were nesting about the summit [of the island of Toro] ; and my 

 men, some of whom landed, brought off two young birds in the down. As we lay close off the 

 rocks in the boats, watching for shots at the Falcons, I suddenly heard behind me the cry of a 

 Gull quite new to me, turned sharp round at the sound ; the bird was rather high up, but I 

 knocked him down ; he fell on the rocks close to us, but I could not see him as he lay. One of 

 the men jumped out and picked him up; and judge of my joy, ye Ibises, when I found that he 

 was a beautiful adult Larus audouini (male), in full breeding-plumage ! 



" We had noticed that a small colony of Gulls seemed to have established itself upon the 

 slope of the rock on the eastern side, apart from the main establishment about the summit and 

 western portion ; but as their general appearance was very like that of the Herring-Gull (at a 

 distance), I had not paid any particular attention to them. Now, however, when they took wing 

 at my shot, I noticed that their wings seemed much longer, and now and then the brilliant red 

 bills and dark-coloured legs were conspicuous. I landed one of my men, with particular instruc- 

 tions to search the spot where we had seen the Gulls ; and he very soon came down to the boat 

 with six eggs, varying a good deal in markings, and like those of Larus leucophceus, but just the 

 size I wished. I had particularly told the finder to bring any of the Herring-Gull's eggs ; but 

 he assured me that he found none, though he searched for a considerable time. 



"The six eggs above mentioned were in five nests, one of which contained two and the 

 others one respectively. There were several empty nests, but no young birds visible. 



" In the meantime the parent birds had gone right off to sea in a body of perhaps twenty 

 or thirty, and were coming back to see. what we were about, but so cautiously and at such a 

 height that, though I fired several shots, I could not manage to bring down another specimen. 

 The rest of the men, who had landed and clambered up to the top, reported great numbers of 

 nests, eggs, and young of Herring-Gull ; but I had told them not to rob them, as we had such a 

 series from Vacca. It was very evident, and a curious fact, that the Audouin's Gulls had their 

 establishment entirely apart from their congeners ; and certainly they are naturally much more 

 wary." 



