404 



6 



species in Eussia, as Mr. Meves shot the closely allied L. leucophceus on the Dvina, near Chol- 

 mogory, and it is very probable that many naturalists, writing on Russian ornithology, have not 

 distinguished between these two species. Mr. Sabanaeff informs me that the present species is 

 " a migrant in the Governments of Jaroslaf and Moscow, but breeds in the south-eastern portion 

 of the Government Vologda. According to Eversmann and Bogdanoif, it breeds on the banks of 

 the Volga, the Kama, and the neighbouring lakes ; it feeds on fish, snails, and even dead birds. 

 It places its nest, in which it deposits from two to three eggs, close to the edge of the water." 

 This gentleman informs me, however, that the species he met with in the Ural is the southern 

 subspecies above referred to (L. leucophceus). It is, however, the present species which occurs on 

 the coasts of the Baltic provinces. Mr. Taczanowski informs me that it is only " an accidental 

 visitor and very rare in Poland. The only specimen which I have seen in the country is in the 

 Warsaw Museum ; it was killed in midwinter, in the district of Lublin, and is an immature 

 bird." On the coasts of Pomerania it is likewise rare, occurring, according to Borggreve, out of 

 the breeding-season, and not remaining during the winter. 



In Denmark it is common, and, according to Kja^rbolling, breeds on many parts of the 

 coast, as at Veiro, Munsholm, Sprogo, Hesselo, Hjortholm, Skallingen, Sylt, and Amram. On 

 the coasts of the North Sea it breeds, Borggreve states, here and there in large colonies, as, for 

 instance, on List and Rottum, but leaves during the winter. De la Fontaine records its appear- 

 ance on the Moselle in bad weather ; and Godron states that it occasionally occurs near Metz. 

 Degland and Gerbe speak of it as common on the northern coasts of France, nesting in suitable 

 localities — and further state that it is numerous at the mouth of the Scheldt, and on the Meuse 

 and the neighbouring marshes, after storms. Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye include it 

 in their work on the birds of the south of France without giving any details. It is most difficult 

 to define the range of the present species in Southern Europe, as it there meets with its close 

 relative, L. leucophceus, and most authors in writing on the ornithology of Southern Europe do 

 not distinguish between these two species. So far as I can ascertain, it appears that the present 

 species does not breed in Southern Europe, being only found there during the winter season, 

 whereas Larus leucophceus is the species referred to by numerous authors, under the name of 

 L. argentatus, as breeding on the coasts of the Mediterranean. 



Professor Barboza du Bocage writes that the present species is common at Tejo, in Portugal ; 

 and Mr. Howard Saunders, a well-known authority on Gulls, states that it is " abundant in winter 

 on the coast of Spain, especially outside the Straits of Gibraltar ; within these Straits it gives 

 place to its congener, L. leucophceus'' 



All that can be said respecting the present species in Southern Europe is that it occurs there 

 during the winter season, being more or less" common in various parts of the Mediterranean. 

 Mr. C. A. Wright states that in Malta it is " one of the commonest species in winter and spring, 

 when it may be seen daily in the harbours and round the coast. It becomes very scarce in 

 summer and autumn." He further states that " a few breed annually in the precipitous cliffs on 

 the southern coast of both Malta and Gozo," but doubtless he here refers to L. leucophceus. 

 Captain Rowland M. Sperling, speaking of the Herring-Gull, without distinguishing between the 

 two species, states that it is the " commonest Gull in the Mediterranean. On a moonlight night 

 at Corfu I noticed about fifty Gulls feeding as calmly and unconcernedly as if it had been broad 



