738 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Resident. Has increased greatly 

 of late years. Breeding colonies throughout Great Britain from 

 Dorset in south-west and Kent in south-east to Shetlands and 

 O. Hebrides and many Ireland. In winter generally distributed 

 coasts and rivers and frequently inland. Some evidence of immi- 

 gration from Continent in autumn, birds ringed in Austria, Germany, 

 Baltic, Denmark, and Holland having been recovered (chiefly) in 

 eastern counties, but also in Hants., Cornwall, Devon, Gloucester, 

 Monmouth, Cheshire, and Lanes. Some emigrate, birds ringed in 

 Great Britain having been found in Ireland, Holland, western 

 France, Portugal, and one even in the Azores. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Breeds in temperate Europe and Asia, 

 from Faeroes, south Norway, Sweden and Archangel southwards 

 to Mediterranean, and eastwards to Kamtschatka. In winter 

 in north Africa, casual Madeira, Canaries, Azores, and south Asia 

 as far south as India, China, Japan, and Philippines. Once observed 

 Greenland. Casual Iceland. Represented in easternmost Siberia 

 (Kamtschatka, Ussuri (? nesting), China, and Japan in winter) by 

 an insufficiently known subspecies, L. r. sibiricus. 



LARUS MELANOCEPHALUS 



449. Larus melanocephalus Temm— THE MEDITERRANEAN 

 BLACK-HEADED GULL. 



Larus melanocephalus Natterer, Isis 1818, p. 816 (Chiozza — Nomen 

 nudum) ; Temminck, Man. d'Orn., 2nd ed., 11, p. 777 (1820— Adriatic. 

 First description). 

 Larus melanocephalus Natterer, Yarrell, ill, p. 604 ; Saunders, p. 667. 



Description. — Adult male and female. Winter. — Head white 

 slightly tinged pale ash-grey, narrowly streaked dark brown 

 especially on back of crown, nape, under eyes and ear-coverts, in 

 front of eye blackish patch, streaks on lores very short and fore- 

 part of lores, fore -head 

 and fore-part of crown 

 often without streaks ; 

 hind-neck white tinged 

 pale ash-grey ; mantle, 

 scapulars, and back ashy 

 blue-grey ; lower -rump, 

 upper tail-coverts, tail 

 and whole under -parts 

 white ; primaries pale 

 ash-grey (almost white) 

 tips and shafts white, 



The Mediterranean Black-headed Gull (Larus nntprwpb nf nufpr (9nr\\ 



melanoeepTuilus). Adult, summer. OUter WeD 01 OUter (ZnCt) 



with varying amount 

 of black not extending to tip nor quite to shaft and occasionally 

 restricted to merely a brown tinge ; secondaries with pale ash-grey 

 outer webs (extending on to inner webs in outer feathers) and white 



