near Glrvan. Tlie keeper on Ailsa Craig* has seen three or four at a time frequenting that rock : they 
were of indolent habits, in the day-time especially ; but late in the afternoon they set out seawards, returning 
to their quarters unseen after dark. This was at a time before all the other seafowl had congregated ; con- 
sequently the keeper was attracted to them as strangers, and as having no black tips to their wings. Frequently, 
at the gloaming, I have seen what I believed to be a pair of these birds hovering over the water of Girvan, 
about a mile from the sea, and dipping their bills into the river as if picking up small fry. 
“ Mr. Elwes informs me that the Iceland Gull is a rare_ winter visitor to Islay ; but I have not heard of its 
occurrence at any time on the outer islands.” 
The White-winged Silvery Gull : I find the following note about this bird in ‘ Ornithological Biography,’ 
Audubon, vol. iii. p. 553 : — “I have not met with this species further south than the Bay of New York. 
During the winter it is not rare about Boston and further eastward. At the approach of summer, before 
the pairing of the Herring-Gull {Larus argentatus), the White-winged Gulls collect in flocks, and set out 
for the distant north, where they breed. 
“The flight of this species so much resembles that of the Herring-Gull, that, were it not for its smaller 
size and the different colour of its wings, it could not be distinguished from the other. It is less shy, 
however, proceeds further up the rivers and salt-water creeks, and alights oftener on the water, as well as 
on the salt meadows, than that species. While at Portland, in Maine, I observed a good number of these 
Gulls flying over the inner harbour close to the shores, descending towards the water, and picking up 
garbage in the manner of the Herring-Gulls, with which they associated. Their notes were not so loud, 
nor so often heard. 
“I was surprised to find but very few on the coast of Labrador; and these did not seem to be breeding ; 
for although we carefully watched them, we did not succeed in finding any nests.” 
The principal figure in the accompanying Plate is about two thirds of the natural size. 
