mediterranean black-headed gull. 
55 
and reaching the outer web, the innermost primaries very pale 
pearly-grey, with a black spot near the end of the outer vveb, 
which is developed into a large black patch on the secondaries; 
tail white, with a broad black band at the end; head white, with 
dusky streaks, more distinct on the ear-coverts; bill duller in col- 
our, with more black at the angle ; tarsi and toes reddish-brown. 
Characters. — The adult of the present species may be easily 
recognised by its black head, pearl-grey mantle, wing less than 
12 inches, and by its coral- red bill, with a dark sub-terminal 
zone. (Cf. Saunders, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 170.) 
According to the characters given by Mr. Saunders for the 
distinguishing of the young bird, L. melamcephalus has much 
more black on the three outer primaries than either L. Phila- 
delphia or L. ridihundus, but the amount of white on these quills 
varies at different stages of the life of these birds, and imma- 
ture specimens retjuire the greatest care to identify them 
correctly. In L. melanocephalus the young bird has black on 
both sides of the shaft of the second and third primary ; in 
L. Philadelphia the shaft of the third primary has no black 
along its inner margin, and very little on the inner web of the 
first and second. In L. ridibundus the young has no black 
on the inner line of the shaft in the second and third primaries 
and scarcely any on the first one, but the three outer primaries 
have a broad border of black along the margin of the inner 
web. 
Range in Great Britain. — Two examples of this Gull have been 
obtained in England. One, a young bird, was shot in Barking 
Creek on the Thames in January, 1866, and was brought to 
Mr. Whitely of Woolwich, who mounted it himself, and after- 
wards parted with the specimen to the British Museum. A 
second individual was obtained on Breydon Broad, near 
Yarmouth, in December, 1S86, by Mr. G. Smith. The latter 
Ijird, an adult in winter plumage, was seen in the flesh by 
several competent ornithologists, and both of the specimens 
have been examined by Mr. Saunders, and identified by him 
as being Larus melanocephalus. 
Range outside the British Islands. — This species, as its name 
implies, is an inhabitant of the Mediterranean, whence it 
extends to the Black Sea, and has been said to breed in 
