413 



specimen obtained by him in Palestine is referable to L. argentatus, as it had flesh-pink (and 

 not yellow) legs. 



In Northern Africa the present species is common. Captain Shelley writes that " it is very 

 numerous and resident in Egypt and Nubia. I believe it to have been the species of which I 

 saw flocks occasionally in Nubia, apparently migrating northward in April. Von Heuglin (Syst. 

 Ueb. p. 69) probably refers to this species under the name of L. argentatus, which he declares 

 is met with singly along the Nile up to Kartoom." To this I may add that Von Heuglin 

 further states that this species was " seen near Ras Belul ; more frequent on the Somali coast 

 and on the Gulf of Aden." 



It is found in North-western Africa ; and Loche doubtless refers to the present species when 

 he states that L, argentatus is abundant along the coasts of Algeria, nesting on the more rugged 

 portions. At Algiers, writes Mr. E. Cavendish Taylor, " where I spent last February (1873), and 

 where I obtained the specimen you have figured and described, I found it, though not very 

 abundant, decidedly more so than L.fuscus, which was the only other species of large Gull I 

 saw there. At Oran, about 300 miles west of Algiers, Larus fuscus, on the contrary, was very 

 abundant, and L. leucoplmus comparatively rare. At Gibraltar and Tangier, whither I went from 

 Oran, L. fuscus absolutely swarms, whilst I did not observe any Herring-Gulls at all there— 

 though I especially looked out for them, to see whether they would have yellow or flesh-coloured 

 legs ; for I imagine that the Straits of Gibraltar is about the point where L. argentatus and 

 L. leucophmis would probably intermingle." 



To the eastward the present species is found to the Mekran coast, in Scinde. Messrs. 

 Dickson and Ross speak of a Herring-Gull as being met with at Erzeroom in April ; and Mr. 

 Blanford has lent me a series of specimens from Baluchistan, Bushire, and the Mekran coast, 

 which are (so far as can be ascertained, as most of them are in immature plumage) all referable 

 to the present species; and the same may be said respecting the Herring-Gulls obtained by 

 Mr. Hume on the Yarkand expedition, which were in immature plumage, but which were 

 doubtless the young of L. leucophmus. 



Mr. Henry Seebohm, who has just returned from an ornithological tour in Greece, where, 

 at my request, he paid especial attention to the present species, has favoured me with the 

 following notes, the result of his personal observations made this last spring : — " Larus leuco- 

 phceus is almost the only Gull one meets with in the Mediterranean in spring and summer. I 

 have occasionally seen a stray Larus melanocephalus in the Gulf of Smyrna ; and in the 

 Bosphorus, especially in the bay between the picturesque villages of Therapia and Buyukdere, 

 I noticed a dark-mantled species (probably Larus fuscus). These Gulls were very dark on the 

 wings and back, slate-grey, almost looking black in the evening light. I fancied also that their 

 wings were narrower, more curved, and more pointed than those of Larus leucoplmus. Both 

 species seemed to be leisurely on the look-out for whatever they could pick up, often swimming 

 on the sea for a short time, in great contrast to the large flocks of ' ames damnees ' (Puffinus 

 anglorum) — which were passing and repassing in long strings at a speed of at least forty miles an 

 hour, perhaps much more. In sailing from Naples or Trieste to Constantinople, and from 

 Corinth to Patras and Missolonghi, I have often watched half a dozen or more of Larus 

 leucoplums flying in the wake of the steamer, sometimes for days together, no doubt to pick 



y 



