PAGOPHILA EBURNEA. 
Ivorv Gull. 
Lams ehurneus, Phipps, Voy. towards the North Pole, App., p. 187.' 
niveus, Mart. Hist, de Spitzb., t. 4. f. A. 
candidus, Fabr. Faun. Grcenl., p. 67. 
Cetosparactes ehurneus, Macg. Man. of Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 252. 
Pagophila eburnea, Kaup, Natiirl. Syst., p. 69. 
Gavia eburnea, Boie, Isis, 1 822, p. 563. 
nivea, Brehm, Vbg. DeutschL, p. 766, tab. 38. fig 1. 
Pagophila brachytarsa, Holb ? 
It will be seen in the sequel that this beautiful Gull has occurred in our seas several times, and hence 
it is necessarily included in the avifauna of Britain ; but the glacial seas of the extreme north are its natural 
home, for in those inhospitable regions it breeds and rears its young. If the North Pole be ever reached, 
and salt water be found to exist there, I predict that the Ivory Gull will be one of the birds enlivening the 
scene. Among the specimens that have come under my notice I have observed much difference in the size 
of the individuals, and it is a question whether there is not more than a single species of this particular 
form ; still our acquaintance with these Gulls and the localities in which they were procured is not sufficiently 
perfect to enable us to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. Mr. Newton believes there is only one. As 
regards the sexes, but little difference occurs in size, and none in the colouring of adults ; the young, on the 
other hand, accord with the young of some other Gulls in having their plumage spotted and barred with 
brown, a state represented by the hinder figure in my Plate, which will give a more accurate idea of its 
appearance than pages of writing. 
The Ivory Gulls obtained in the British Islands are but few in number (seven or eight in England, 
three or four in Scotland and its islands, and one or two in Ireland). Captain Sabine states that 
it is abundant in Baffin’s Bay, and Dr. Richardson that it also frequents Davis’s Straits and various 
parts of the shores of the American continent, and he observed it breeding in great numbers in the high 
perforated cliffs which form the extremity of Cape Parry, in latitude 70°. It is generally met with out at 
sea in company with the Fulmar, and, like that species, is a constant attendant upon the whale-fishery, 
greedily feeding upon the blubber, which with other animal matter constitutes its food. 
“ The Ivory Gull, first scientifically described by Lqrd Mulgrave,” says Mr. Newton, “ is of all others the 
bird of which any visitor to Spitzbergen will carry away the keenest recollection. One can only wish that 
a creature so fair to look upon was not so foul a feeder. Contrary to the experience of almost all other 
observers, I once saw an Ivory Gull of its own accord deliberately settle on the water and swim. This was 
in the Stor Fjord. There is a very great variation in the size of different specimens of this bird, which is 
not at all to be attributed to sex or, as I think, to age ; but I do not for a moment countenance the belief 
in a second species, which some ornithologists have endeavoured to establish under the name of P. hrachj- 
tarsa. Some years ago I had the pleasure of announcing, at a meeting of the Zoological Society, that the 
Swedish expedition to Spitzbergen in 1861 had obtained some eggs of this bird, the first well-authenticated 
specimens brought to Europe. I here transcribe what Dr. Malmgren, the fortunate finder, says about 
them : — “ On the 7th of July, 1861, I found, on the north shore of Murchison Bay, lat. 80° N., a number 
of Ivory Gulls established on the side of a steep limestone precipice some hundred feet high, in company 
with Lanis tridactylus and L. glaucus. The last-mentioned occupied the higher zones of the precipice. 
Larus ehurneus, on the other hand, occupied the niches and clefts lower down, at a height of from 
fifty to a hundred feet. I could plainly see that the hen birds were sitting on their nests; but these 
to me were altogether inaccessible. Circumstances did not permit me, before the 30th of July, to 
make the attempt, with the help of a long rope and some necessary assistance, to get at the eggs. 
On the day just named I succeeded, with the help of three men, in reaching two of the lowest in 
situation, of which each contained one egg'. The nest was artless and without connexion, and consisted 
of a shallow depression eight or nine inches broad, in loose clay and mould on a sublayer of limestone. 
Inside it was carelessly lined with dry plants, grass, moss, and the like, and also a few feathers. The 
eggs were much incubated, and already contained down-clad young. Both the hen birds were shot 
upon their nests, and are now in the National Museum. The cocks were at first observable, but 
they vanished when we began the work of reaching their nests.’ The locality just mentioned will 
