2070 Birds. 



more and more tinged with brown from the first primary to the last; the light-coloured 

 tip, on the contrary, becomes gradually of a deeper shade from the third to the last. 

 Shafts of all the primaries white, except the upper portion of the first, which is dusky. 

 Black appears on the inner web of the three longest primaries, much lessening, both in 

 length and breadth, from the first to the third: in the first it occupies 4 inches in 

 length, and its greatest breadth from the shaft is 4 lines 1^ inch. The secondaries 

 exhibit a large space of blackish brown towards the tip, within their pearl-gray mar- 

 gins : the tertiaries have more or less of blackish brown irregularly disposed towards 

 their tips. Under surface of wings entirely white, except that the portions of the pri- 

 maries, secondaries and tertiaries, which are dark above, appear grayish. Entire un- 

 der surface of body, from the bill to the extremity of the under tail-coverts, white, of 

 an extremely faint roseate hue." — Id. 



Occurrence of the Glaucous Gull (Larus glaucus) and Iceland Gull (Larus leucop- 

 terus) in Shetland. — In the latter part of November, 1847, a friend at the north part 

 of Shetland sent me word that some gulls, which he thought were called 'burgomasters,' 

 were attracted to a locality there by some whales which had been driven ashore. I 

 went over, and remained there till the 15th of December, by which time I had pro- 

 cured one immature and four adult specimens of the glaucous or large white-winged 

 gull (Larus glaucus) and one adult specimen of the Iceland gull (Larus leucopterus). 

 I sometimes did not see one of these birds for two or three days together, but as the 

 ravens were very numerous, feeding upon the whales, I filled up my time by shooting 

 what I could of the finest of them. It is remarkable, although I have resided nearly 

 six years here, that I never had the pleasure of seeing either a mature glaucous gull 

 or a mature Iceland gull before, but nearly every winter I have shot one or two imma- 

 ture birds of both kinds. The appearance of the adult birds this season I should think 

 is owing to the very severe gales of wind we have had, and which must have driven 

 them here. Early in January I again visited the place where I shot the glaucous 

 gulls, and got four more adult birds and one immature Iceland gull ; and I went over 

 again in the early part of this month, but only procured one adult specimen and one 

 immature Iceland gull. I do not expect to get any more this season, but if I do I 

 will acquaint you, and shall be glad if you consider these observations worthy of in- 

 sertion in your valuable journal. — Robert Dunn ; Helister, near Weesdale, Shetland 

 Isles, February 18, 1848. 



Young of the Glaucous Gull (Larus glaucus). — In answer to Mr. Burlingham's 

 inquiry respecting the young of the (lesser) black-backed and glaucous gulls (Zool. 

 2027), the most obvious distinction between these species is, that the primary quill- 

 feathers in the wing of the latter are never dark, in the former they are always so. It 

 is true that in the young of the two kinds the colours of this part and also of the whole 

 body in some degree approximate, but I think never sufficiently to create confusion. 

 The tinge of brown which exists in the quill-feathers of the glaucous gull is moreover 

 of a yellower cast than in the (lesser) black-backed species, and the same remark ap- 

 plies to the colour of the whole body. Is not your correspondent's bird the young of 

 the greater black-backed gull (L.marinus) ? The adult glaucous gull is surely a much 

 larger bird than the adult lesser black-backed gull. — William R. Fisher ; Cambridge, 

 February 25, 1848. 



Note on the Black-backed and Glaucous Gulls. — In reply to Mr. Burlingham's in- 

 quiry (Zool. 2027), respecting the difference between the young of the lesser black- 

 backed gull (L. fuscus) and that of the glaucous gull (L. glaucus), I imagine that in 





