338 



BIRDS. 



and exhausted were many of the old, i.e. parent-birds, that they 

 were seen to drop dead suddenly on wing. When examined, they 

 were simply found to be emaciated skeletons ! 



But the present numbers of this species in central Tay can 

 scarcely be compared with its numbers elsewhere, because it is 

 by no means so very abundant as all that. Indeed, in some of 

 the minor valleys and districts generally, it may almost be con- 

 sidered rare. Thus, as I am told by Mr. Charles Mackintosh, 

 Several pairs are resident on the Tay, except for a short time in 

 June. Without doubt, these have been attracted by the number of 

 dead salmon — victims of the dread salmon-disease." Personally, I 

 think it quite possible that a great deal of insect life has been 

 generated by the exposure of dead salmon, but I cannot feel quite 

 sure in how much that has proved beneficial to this species of 

 Gull. 



In the lower levels of Strathmore there are colonies, and perhaps 

 the. principal one in extent or numbers of individuals is that at 

 Kossie Moor amongst some rushy tarns, some miles distant from 

 Guthrie. But there are other lochs and marshes which appear to 

 be equally inviting to this species, which, however, show no present 

 signs of occupancy by them. 



Larus minutus, Pall. Little Gull. 



Rare occasional visitant. 



One occurrence is recorded by the late Mr. Allan Briggs at 

 St. Andrews {Annals Scot. Nat. Hist., 1895, p. 125). 



Arctic Gulls. 



In the year, or season, of 1871-2, immense numbers of Arctic Gulls appeared upon 

 our coasts ; and these numbers were most patent in the Firth of Forth, and also at 

 the mouth of Tay and estuary of the Eden and along the coast of north-east Fife.^ 



That these Arctic Gulls had appeared for many years previously there can be 

 little reasonable doubt — indeed, there seems to have been plenty of evidence of the 

 fact ; but so far as our records teU us, or at least so far as such that I have had access 

 to tell us, the winter of 1872-3 was previously unsurpassed upon our eastern 

 seaboard. 



1 See papers written at the time by the late Mr. Robert Gray and myself and 

 others {Proc. Glasgow Nat. Hist. Soc, vol. ii., 1873-6, pp. 188, 210, 213), Royal Phys. 

 Soc, Edinburgh, and elsewhere. 



