422 



Winter plumage. Differs from the summer plumage in having the feathers on the head and neck with a 

 central line or drop of dark brown. 



Young Female (Baluchistan, January 11th, 1872). Head and neck white, the feathers with a central dark 

 brown line, and a large spot of the same colour towards the tip ; back very dark blue-grey ; rump 

 white ; tail marbled at the base, then black, and finally narrowly tipped with white ; primaries black, 

 the inner ones narrowly tipped with white ; secondaries blackish brown on the outer web, marbled grey 

 on the inner web, margined and tipped with white ; wing-coverts dirty greyish brown, edged with dirty 

 white, here and there having a dark centre ; edge of the wing white, here and there marked with dirty 

 brown ; underparts pure white. 



Young of the year. Head and neck dirty white, each feather with a dull brown centre ; back and wing- 

 coverts dull brown, edged with dirty white, lighter on the rump ; upper tail-coverts white, with thick 

 bars of dull brown ; central tail-feathers marbled at the base, then dull dark brown, and finally tipped 

 with dirty white ; outside tail-feathers white, barred with dark brown at the base, dark brown towards 

 the tip, and, like the central ones, finally tipped with white ; quills dark blackish brown ; underparts 

 dirty white, marked, chiefly on the neck and flanks, with dirty light-brown spots ; under wing-coverts 

 and axillaries smoky brown, the latter indistinctly marbled with dull grey; under tail-coverts dirty 

 white, with a dark brown spot towards the tip, and here and there a brown bar; bill blackish; legs and 

 feet dull flesh-coloured. 



The present species is found throughout Northern Europe in the summer; and in the winter 

 season it straggles down into Northern Africa. To the eastward its range extends into China 

 and Dauria, and to the westward as far as the Canaries. On the coasts of Great Britain it is a 

 common species, though more numerous in the northern than in the southern part of the island. 

 It breeds on the coasts of Scotland, but also on the inland lakes, and is there commoner than in 

 England. Mr. Robert Grey, writing on the birds of the west of Scotland, states that " in inland 

 situations particularly, this beautiful Sea-Gull is, next to the Black-headed Gull, the best-known 

 species. During the autumn months it betakes itself at nightfall, especially in broken weather, 

 to grass parks at some distance from the coast, remaining in companies numbering sometimes as 

 many as a hundred birds till daybreak, when they wing their flight back to the sea-shore. About 

 the same season of the year it follows the course of large rivers, and travels twenty or even thirty 

 miles inland in small flocks, picking up morsels of food which it finds floating on the stream. I 

 have seen numbers of these splendid birds every year on the Clyde, in the heart of the city of 

 Glasgow, circling in their beautiful flight above the river between the bridges, and also in the 

 most bustling part of the harbour crowded with ships and steam-vessels. Undisturbed by the 

 noise and busy tumult surrounding their haunts, these Gulls soared gracefully over the shipping, 

 descending at times to the water as they found a clear space, and tapping the surface with their 

 feet for an instant, as if afraid to touch the polluted river. After picking up a bit of floating 

 garbage which had attracted their attention, they rose at once to the same height, performing 

 their evolutions as before. In the Outer Hebrides this Gull is very common, and breeds on 

 many of the islands there. In autumn there is a considerable accession to its numbers by 

 arrivals from St. Kilda and other outlying stations. It also abounds on some of the inner group 

 of islands, and on Ailsa Craig, where it makes itself obnoxious to the other birds by destroying 

 immense quantities of their eggs. I have picked up great numbers of Guillemot's and Razor- 



