﻿212 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  Sub-family 
  LABINJE. 
  

  

  [Xema 
  sabinii 
  (Sabine), 
  Sabine's 
  Gull. 
  

  

  Edward 
  ' 
  pursued 
  one, 
  but 
  failed 
  to 
  obtain 
  it.' 
  We 
  possess 
  no 
  other 
  

   record 
  !] 
  

  

  Larus 
  minutus, 
  Pall 
  Little 
  Gull. 
  

  

  On 
  24th 
  January 
  1894, 
  Mr. 
  P. 
  Burgess, 
  factor 
  at 
  Glen 
  Urquhart, 
  in- 
  

   formed 
  us 
  in 
  lit. 
  that 
  a 
  Little 
  Gull 
  was 
  found 
  dead 
  on 
  the 
  shore 
  

   of 
  Loch 
  Ness 
  on 
  the 
  8th 
  inst. 
  He 
  adds 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  It 
  had 
  probably 
  been 
  

   driven 
  north 
  by 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  recent 
  storms, 
  and, 
  lighting 
  on 
  Loch 
  

   Ness 
  in 
  an 
  exhausted 
  condition, 
  was 
  unable 
  to 
  support 
  itself, 
  and 
  

   perished. 
  I 
  thought 
  the 
  little 
  stranger 
  rare 
  enough 
  to 
  have 
  it 
  

   preserved.' 
  Buckley 
  saw 
  the 
  bird 
  in 
  Macleay's 
  shop. 
  It 
  was 
  in 
  

   immature 
  plumage. 
  

  

  Edward 
  believes 
  only 
  two 
  specimens 
  have 
  been 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  his 
  

   district. 
  He 
  speaks 
  of 
  one 
  as 
  having 
  been 
  shot 
  at 
  Fraserburgh, 
  in 
  

   the 
  extreme 
  north-east 
  of 
  our 
  area, 
  on 
  June 
  28th, 
  1854 
  (Naturalist, 
  

   vol. 
  iv. 
  p. 
  226), 
  which 
  may 
  account 
  for 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  ; 
  and 
  Mr. 
  

   George 
  Sim 
  informs 
  us 
  that 
  Edward 
  did 
  possess 
  a 
  bird 
  in 
  1854. 
  

  

  St. 
  John 
  records 
  one 
  as 
  having 
  been 
  killed 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  sons, 
  

   in 
  April 
  1847, 
  at 
  loch 
  of 
  Spynie 
  (Natural 
  History 
  and 
  Sport 
  in 
  

   Moray, 
  p. 
  112). 
  

  

  [Larus 
  Philadelphia, 
  Ord. 
  Bonaparte's 
  Gull. 
  

  

  Edward 
  ' 
  was 
  informed 
  that 
  two 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  were 
  killed 
  thirty 
  

  

  years 
  ago 
  ' 
  ! 
  !] 
  

  

  Larus 
  ridibundus, 
  L. 
  Black-headed 
  Gull. 
  

  

  Common 
  and 
  resident, 
  breeding 
  abundantly 
  in 
  the 
  Sutherland 
  part 
  

   of 
  our 
  area 
  (Fauna 
  of 
  Sutherland 
  and 
  Caithness, 
  p. 
  230). 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Jennings 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  Black-headed 
  Gulls 
  breed 
  at 
  a 
  

   marshy 
  loch 
  near 
  Fearn, 
  at 
  a 
  place 
  near 
  Tain 
  hill, 
  besides 
  some 
  

   smaller 
  colonies. 
  But 
  to 
  enumerate, 
  even 
  if 
  we 
  could, 
  all 
  the 
  

   breeding-places 
  of 
  this 
  bird, 
  would 
  be 
  of 
  no 
  practical 
  use. 
  Suffice 
  

   it 
  to 
  say 
  they 
  breed 
  in 
  many 
  places 
  through 
  our 
  area, 
  and 
  are 
  in- 
  

   creasing, 
  though 
  we 
  know 
  of 
  no 
  colony 
  to 
  equal 
  that 
  of 
  Spynie, 
  

   described 
  further 
  on. 
  

  

  