440 



counties skirting the British Channel. In the winter of 1874-75 it was unusually numerous, as 

 were indeed almost all the northern Gulls. Mr. Gatcombe writes to me as follows : — " Owing 

 to the long-continued gales, I suppose, last winter produced more of this species on the coasts of 

 Devon and Cornwall than were remembered to have ever appeared before — numerous specimens, 

 both of young and adult, having been seen and obtained on the coasts and in our harbours. A 

 specimen or two of the immature might be occasionally seen on the coast, but the adult very 

 rarely. There seems to be a regular gradation in size between this species and Larus glaucus, 

 as I have seen Larus leucopterus from the size of the common 'Mew' up to that of a small 

 Glaucous Gull." It is occasionally seen in autumn and winter all along the east coast. Mr. 

 Cordeaux says that those which are obtained off Flamborough Head are almost without excep- 

 tion in immature dress, and that he has once seen it within the Humber district, an immature 

 specimen having been obtained there as late as the 18th April, 1872. In Scotland, Mr. Robert 

 Gray says (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 485), " although by no means a common bird on the coasts, it 

 has been frequently met with on both the eastern and western shores. From Shetland to 

 Berwickshire immature birds are seen or killed almost every winter ; and the same may be said 

 of its appearance from the coast of Skye to the south of Ayrshire. Mr. Elwes informs me that 

 the Iceland Gull is a rare winter visitor in Islay ; but I have not heard of its occurrence at any 

 time on the outer islands." 



Mr. R. Gray and Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown have both published some most interesting notes 

 respecting the occurrence of the present species on the Scotch coast in the winter of 1872-73 

 (Proc. Nat.-Hist. Soc. Glasg. Jan. 1873). The former writes, "Dr. Dewar reported that he had 

 seen an Iceland Gull in full adult dress." He further adds that he was fortunate enough to see 

 and fairly recognize five if not six adult specimens, and had not the least doubt of the identi- 

 fication ; and he remarks that during the winter in question it was certainly seen in much greater 

 numbers than Ave have any previous record of. Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown, referring to the above- 

 quoted notes by Mr. Gray, writes (/. c. p. 210) as follows: — " Since then I have met with them 

 abundantly ; on some days they were much more numerous than the Glaucous Gull (L. glaucus). 

 But it was only at sunrise on the 15th of this month that I realized in my mind the vast numbers 

 which are frequenting the firth. Whether those I saw on this day had only lately arrived or 

 had merely remained out of sight, it is difficult of course to determine ; but I think, from what I 

 have observed of late, that the latter is the more probable supposition. On the above-mentioned 

 date I counted in a few seconds no less than twelve adult Iceland Gulls as they flew low against 

 the wind, showing the white primaries distinctly ; and as I afterwards slowly drifted in a boat 

 along the side of the mud-banks, Iceland Gulls were constantly in sight, two, three, or even 

 more at a time. These birds were all flying away inland, and, in company with Glaucous and 

 other Gulls, were alighting on a ploughed field on Dunrnore estate. Towards the afternoon 

 scarcely a single Iceland Gull was visible over the water. As a large body of Gulls have for 

 some time past frequented this particular field, I am in the belief that the Iceland Gulls have 

 been generally associating with them, and, in fact, that they are not so exclusively maritime in 

 their habits as has been described. Moreover it is seldom that I have observed the Iceland Gull 

 following the shoals of garvies (Clujpea sprattus), or fishing for them in the manner of the Kitti- 

 wake (Eissa tridactyla), or even to the same extent as the Glaucous or other large Gulls. They 



