not be found marked on any English chart. It lies at the north-eastern entrance of Hinlopen Strait, 
ill about long. 18° 30' E., and was first accurately surveyed by the Swedish expedition. I am inclined 
to believe, however, that the Ivory Gull breeds sporadically on many other parts of Spitsbergen 
proper. Several of the examples we shot in Ice Sound and the Stor Fjord had their bellies bared 
of feathers, as usual in sitting birds ; but I could not learn from any of the Walrus-hunters we met 
that they had ever discovered a breeding-place, except that our pilot told me that a ship’s boat, which 
in 1859 succeeded in reaching Giles’s Land, found many Ivory-Gull’s nests on its lonely shore. This 
species, like other Gulls, does not always breed in colonies ; and as it is sure to select the most 
inaccessible places for that pur|)ose, an occasional nest here and there on the mountains or crags 
might well escape notice.” — The Ibis, 1865, p. 507. 
It will have been seen that Mr. Newton assigns to Dr. Malmgren the merit of bringing the first well- 
authenticated eggs of the Ivory Gull to Europe ; but in a communication made to ‘The Ibis’ in 1866 by 
Dr. E. Perceval Wright, of Trinity College Dublin, it is stated that there is a much earlier record of its 
discovery by our celebrated countryman. Sir Leopold M'Clintock, from whose diary we learn that, as be 
was rounding Cape Krabh^ lat. 77° 25' N., long. 116° W., lie saw an Ivory Gull seated upon her nest on a 
hare patch of gravel, near the beach. There was one egg in the nest, which was chiefly formed of moss, 
a little white down, and a few feathers. “ This egg is now in the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society. 
“ I may add that an account of the nidificatlon of this Gull, by Dr. Carte, will be found in the ‘ Journal 
of the Royal Dublin Society’ for July 1866, vol. 1. pp. 57—60, pis. 1 and 2, and the egg was exhibited at 
the meeting of the Dublin University Zoological and Botanical Association in February 1855.” 
Upon this communication the editor remarks: — “We are extremely indebted to Professor VYright for 
calling our attention to this interesting fact, of which we and probably many of our readers have hitherto 
been entirely ignorant. Dr. Carte’s paper, referred to above, is accompanied by a very well executed figure 
of the egg of the Ivory Gull brought home by Sir Leopold M‘Clintock, to whom our friend Dr. Malmgren 
must certainly yield the honour of the discovery.” 
Temminck mentions having killed an individual of this species on the coast of Holland; Vielllot says it 
sometimes occurs on the coast of France ; and Necker and Schlnz have recorded one killed at Lausanne ; 
Nilsson states that in winter it occasionally appears in Sweden and the northern parts of Scandinavia. 
Captain (afterwards the Rev. Dr.) Scoresby says, “ though so delicate in appearance, it is almost as rav^enous 
as the Fulmar, and as little nice in its food. It is a constant attendant on the flensing operations of the 
whale-fishers, where it generally seizes its portion on the wing. It rarely alights on the water, hut often sits 
on the ice, preferring the most elevated situations. Its voice is a loud and disagreeable scream.” 
Respecting one of the British-killed specimens, Mr. Rodd says : — “ It was shot from Penzance Pier- 
head on the 15th of February 1847, after having been seen for a day or two previously in company with 
common Sea-Mews and Herring-Gulls. It alighted several times on the New Pier, Battery Rocks, &c., 
adjacent to the town, without betraying any apparent shyness. Its note was described to me as being the 
reverse of harsh and grating, as described by authors, more resembling the warbling chirping whistle of 
the Oyster-catcher, but deeper and louder ; the peculiarity of tone attracted the notice of men and boys at 
the quay, who are accustomed to the screaming and clamorous cries of the Commoti Gulls.” “ I know of 
hut two instances,” says Mr. Stevenson, “ of the occurrence of this species on the Norfolk coast, one 
having been killed at Yarmouth many years back, and an immature bird shot at Wrenningham in January 
1862. Four others were said to have been seen at the same time.” 
I am greatly indebted to Mr. Newton for a sketch of the head of this species, which has enabled me to 
give a far more correct representation than I could otherwise have done. In the note accompanying the 
sketch, Mr. Newton says : — “ You may rely on its accuracy as regards colour ; for it was drawn from a very fine 
bird before it was cold. I never saw one with brighter tints. The legs, toes, and claws are always of a 
very intense black ; hut, the roughness of the surface of the skin causing much light and shade, it appears 
much less dead than would have been the case had the skin been smooth.” 
The Plate represents an old and a young bird, nearly of the natural size. 
