THE BIRDS OF JAN MA YEN ISLAND. 49 



from Tromso to Jan Mayen we noticed this bird neither at sea 

 nor on the ice. The first were seen in the immediate proximity 

 of the island. Twenty to twenty-five pairs of this species, and 

 not more, breed on Jan Mayen. The first young gulls I noticed 

 on the shore in the first days of August, 1882, where, under the 

 care of the parents, they were devouring cast-up animal remains. 

 Both old as well as young birds were seen as long as the sea 

 was free from ice — i. e., until December. On Jan. 22nd, 1883, 

 I shot a young specimen at sea, as also on March 17th. On 

 April 1st I saw a young bird. During the night I repeatedly 

 heard the call of this gull, which now frequented the Vogelberge, 

 and no longer departed. On June 20th three nearly fully 

 incubated eggs were found in the nests, which were built on 

 peaks very difiicult to approach, and consisted of a layer of moss. 

 On July 15th we took young gulls out of several nests showing a 

 complete series of developmental stages. The young leave the 

 nest as soon as they can fly, and walk freely about on the rocks. 

 Both males and females defend the brood, and will even pursue 

 the plunderers for hours. Of three living young specimens which 

 I kept in a small coop near my tent, one was visited by its 

 parents for several days ; this bird also on one occasion followed 

 the parents from my station to the sea, a distance of 600 paces, 

 and was only recaptured after much trouble ; the same bird, 

 too, usually became excited on hearing the call of its parents, 

 while the two others, their heads bent sideways, looked on with 

 perfect indifference. This gull seldom dares to attack healthy 

 birds, but those wounded or injured by falling pieces of rock are 

 recognised as easy prey and immediately attacked, even though 

 they may swim about on the sea in an apparently sound 

 condition. Young birds that have fallen out of the nest, as well 

 as the leavings of the Arctic Fox, — which when prey is abundant 

 consumes only the entrails, — likewise supply abundant nourish- 

 ment for this bird, which is otherwise contented with carrion of 

 any kind. Of this high northern species, which winters also in 

 Iceland and Greenland, young specimens in different stages of 

 transition were procured ; three live young ones were sent to 

 the Imperial Menagerie at Schonbrunn. Among the skins are 

 some completely in full plumage, others in young dress, as 

 pictured by Naumann (plate 264, fig. 3), and one intermediate, 

 in which the brownish coloration of the spots has become very 



