200 
British Birds. 
THE 
WEDGE-TAILED 
GULL. 
( Rhodostethia 
rosea.) 
collar ; the bill is black with a yellow tip, and there is a ring of bright vermilion 
round the eye. The specimens of Sabine’s Gull which occur off our coasts are 
mostly young birds, but at least two adult ones have also been secured. Its nesting- 
home is in the Arctic regions, and it breeds throughout North America, from Baffin 
Bay to Alaska, as well as in the high north of Eastern Siberia. The habits of this 
species are said to be very like those of a Tern, but it also frequents the beaches, 
and runs with great swiftness, so that it can be easily mistaken for a Wading- 
bird. It nests in company, and the two eggs are laid on the ground or on a few 
blades of grass. The colour of the eggs is unmistakable among those of the Gulls, 
being of a very dark olive-brown with indistinct spots and blotches of reddish-brown 
and grey ; the length is from 
an inch-and-five-eighths to an 
inch -and- seven -eighths. 
In breed- 
ing plumage 
Ross's Gull, 
as this 
species is 
generally 
called, is of a light pearly grey, 
with the tail, underparts, and 
head and neck white, with a 
black collar round the latter. 
On the breast there is at first 
a lovely rosy blush, which 
fades in preserved specimens : it is less pronounced in winter, when the black 
collar is also absent. In young birds there is a black band at the end of the tail, 
and there is a black patch behind the eye. 
Ross’s Gull breeds in the Arctic regions, and Dr. Nansen found its nesting-haunts 
on some islands in Lat. 8o° 38' N, Long. 63 E. It has been noticed in Green- 
land and many other places in the high north, and has been seen abundantly 
on migration at Point Barrow in the autumn. A single specimen has been said to 
have been procured in Yorkshire. The nest has not yet been described, but an egg 
ascribed to this species is in the British Museum ; it resembles that of Sabine’s 
Gull, but is a little larger: length an inch-and-seven-eighths. 
The small size of this pretty little Gull is the best 
character for its recognition, as it is only about ten-and-a- 
half inches in length. It has a black cap in summer, but 
in winter the head is white, with the hinder crown slaty-grey, 
and a blackish patch behind the eye. The young birds resemble the winter 
plumage of the adults, but have a black band at the end of the tail. The species 
The Wedge-tailed Gull. 
THE 
LITTLE GULL. 
(Laras minutus.) 
