THE GLAUCOUS GULL. 
351 
ouce took out of the stomach of one of these birds not less than 
hve different species of sea-weeds, the greater portion consist- 
ing of Alaria cscuJcnta (“ honey- ware”), the midrib of which is 
sometimes eaten by the Shetlanders themselves. Occasionally, 
when food has previously been scarce, many Glaucous Gulls 
may be seen in the hungry crowd, attracted by a carcase on 
the hill-side. I remember also a couple of them being met 
with on the beach near Dale, feeding upon a large “ fishing 
frog ” {Lophius piscatorius), which had been left there by the 
tide, and have known one to be caught upon a hook baited 
with a piece of fish. 
So far as my observations go, the Glaucous Gulls are not so 
quarrelsome, either among themselves or with other species, as 
the Herring Gulls appear to be, and they feed in company with 
other birds without seeming to cause any alarm. 
A notice of this species ought not to omit mention of the 
fact that it was first recognised and identified in the early part 
of this century by Dr Laurence Edmonds ton, by whom also 
the Iceland Gull and the Ivory Gull were introduced to tlie 
fauna of the British Isles. The caution may be here repeated, 
that any statements made by the Shetlanders concerning 
an “Iceland” Gull may be generally regarded as referring to 
this bird, the “ Burgomaster” of the Arctic regions ; though the 
account of it given by Captain Scoresby, under the latter name, 
as quoted by Mr Yarrell, seems curiously out of keeping with 
one’s impressions of the great good-natured Gull which spends 
its winter in Shetland, the least meddlesome of its tribe, though 
a match for the Great Black-back itself, and far more than a 
match for any of the rest. A similar account, however, is given 
by Captain J. Boss, quoted by Mr Gray in his “ Birds of the 
West of Scotland.” 
