190 BULLETIN 113, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



was seen during the spring migrations or in the summer, but two or three strag- 

 glers were noticed early in September — a few out among the loose pack ice; 

 and on September 21, 1882, they were again abundant, apparently almost all 

 young birds. They appeared in large, loose flocks, coming in from the sea 

 and from the southwest, all apparently traveling to the northeast. Most of the 

 flocks whirled in at the mouth of our lagoon and circled around the station 

 with a peculiarly graceful, wavering flight, and many were shot close to the 

 house. A cold easterly wind was blowing at the time. They continued plenti- 

 ful for several days, while the east wind blew, all following the same track, 

 moving up the shore, and making short excursions inland at each of all beach 

 lagoons. After September 28 they disappeared until October 6, when for several 

 days there was a large flight. On October 9, in particular, there was a con- 

 tinuous stream of them all day long moving up the shore a short distance from 

 the beach, and occasionally swinging in over the land. None were seen to 

 return. 



It is difficult to form any idea of what becomes of the thousands that pass 

 Point Barrow to the northeast in the autumn. It is certain that they do not 

 return along the shore as they went. Nevertheless, at that season of the year 

 they must of necessity soon seek lower latitudes. Perhaps the most plausible 

 supposition is that soon after leaving Point Barrow, perhaps when they first 

 encounter the main ice pack, they turn and retrace their steps so far out at sea 

 as to be unnoticed from the land, and pass the winter at the edge of the 

 ice field, proceeding north to their breeding ground, as the pack travels north 

 in the spring. Capt. Everett Smith, of the steam whaler Botchead, who is a 

 trustworthy witness, reports that when he was in the loose ice, 70 miles north- 

 west of Point Hope, on June 10, 1883, he saw large numbers of these birds. 



Nansen's (1899) discovery of Ross's gulls in large numbers near 

 Franz Josef Land in August, would seem to indicate that there are 

 other breeding grounds farther west along the Siberian coast, or 

 that there is a westward as well as an eastward migration after the 

 breeding season. After August 23, when the channels and lanes 

 about the ship froze up, these gulls disappeared. What becomes of 

 these birds in winter, when it is impossible for them to obtain food 

 in the Arctic Ocean, is a question which still remains to be answered. 

 A specimen is recorded by Dr. B. W. Evermann (1913) as taken on 

 St. George Island, Pribilof Islands, on May 25, 1911, which suggests 

 the possibility that Ross's gull may winter in the open waters of the 

 North Pacific Ocean ; but, if so, it is strange that no specimens have 

 been recorded from that region. 



I would refer the reader also to Mr. Murdoch's (1899) excellent 

 historical account of this species, telling us practically all that was 

 known about it at that time. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — Probably circumpolar, but erratic and irregular. 

 Known to have bred on the Arctic coast of northeastern Siberia 

 (Kolyma Delta) and on the Indigirka River from its mouth to 300 

 miles inland. Said to have bred once in western Greenland (Disco 



