IVORY GULL. 
83 
Habits. 1 he flight of the Ivory Gull is described by Colonel 
beildcn as being more like that of a Tern than of a Gull, and 
he says that it has a shrill note, not unlike that of the Arctic 
1 ern. Its food consists of marine animals, as well as the 
droppings of walruses and seals, and the refuse of the carcases 
ot the latter animals and whales cast aside by the hunters. 
Numbers tvere observed by Malmgren sitting for hours round 
the ice-holes throLigh which the seals came^ up, looking as if 
they were sitting round a council-table ; “ a practice which has 
doubtless given rise to the curious name used by Martens in 
1675 for this Gull, viz., ‘Rathshcrr’ (Councillor), a name 
analopiis m its derivation to that of ‘ Biirgcrmeister ' (Mayor) 
used for the Glaucous Gull ” ^ ^ 
n of green moss, according to Professor 
Collett, this moss forming one-tenth of its mass “ The nest 
a few feathers, single 
stalks and leaves of algie, with one or two particles of lichen. 
No trace of straw is to be found ; a couple of pebbles may 
possibly have appertained to the under layer of the nest The 
mosses occur m pieces of the size of a walnut or less, and have 
evidently been plucked in a fresh state from a dry sub soil 
either on rocks or gravelly places. The feathers, of which a 
tew ivere found, are snowy-white, and have probably fallen 
brooding bird.” The nests are placed, as a rule, on 
the cliffs, at a height of from fifty to a hundred feet, and are 
often cpnte inaccessible. "J'hose described by Professor Collett 
were obtained on the island of Stor-oen, off Spitsbergen, about 
sixteen Pnglish mi es to the east of Cape Smith in^8o° 9' N 
Lat., by Captain Johinnesen. ^ 
Eggs.— One, or two, in number. The ground-colour of five 
specimens sent to Professor Collett, w'ere almost exactly alike 
VIZ a light greyish-brown tint, with a faint admi.xfure of 
yellowish-green, such as often appears on the eggs of Zarus 
canus, which, however, have often a deeper brown or greener 
S.rr ' Slo.ss all tlie eggs brought to Piofessor 
1 '^^scmble those of L. camis-, but the granulations 
under the microscope are a little coarser, more uneven, and in 
aiger numbers; on the other hand, the granulations are 
I erceptibly finer than in Z. fiiscus. The eggs are easily dis- 
G 2 
