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452 Messrs. H. Seebohm and J. A. Harvie Brown on 
At the time of migration we saw several of these birds perch 
together on a high leafy birch tree. 
Larus Marinus, L. 
The Great Black-backed Gull appears to be decidedly scarce, 
both on the river and on the shores of the Petchora Gulf. 
The first two we saw were resting on an island near Alexievka, 
where the Arctic Terns were also found in numbers. They 
were easily identified as they were sitting beside several indi- 
viduals of Larus affinis, their superior size being evident at 
aglance. Afterwards we met with them sparingly at Dvoinik 
along the shore, but obtained no examples; nor did we obtain 
any eggs or young. 
Larus AFFINIS, Reinhardt ? 
The Siberian Herring-Gull arrived on migration at Ust 
Zy|lma about the 11th May. It breeds on the shores of the 
delta and the lagoons of the Petchora. We obtained several 
of its eggs, which do not differ from those of the other Euro- 
pean Herring-Gulls. Nearly all the birds which frequent 
the Petchora were in adult plumage. We shot two birds in 
immature plumage, and may have seen a couple more. 
Wherever a party of fishermen was stationed there were sure 
to be plenty of Herring-Gulls. They hovered over the nets 
as they were being dragged in, and frequently secured small 
fish as they attempted to escape. 
This species is intermediate in the colour of its mantle be- 
tween the Mediterranean Herring-Gull and the Lesser Black- 
backed Gull. Like both those species, it has yellow legs; and 
the circle round the eye is brilliant vermilion, or the colour 
of a Seville orange. It is, however, emphatically a Herring- 
Gull, as the coloration of the primaries abundantly proves. 
It agrees in the colour of the mantle with the description of 
Larus affinis of Reinhardt; but we do not for one moment 
venture to assert that this is its true name. We may, how- 
ever, venture to suggest that the Herring-Gulls which breed 
in the Petchora winter on the shores of the Arabian Sea, and 
are the species spoken of by Mr. Hume (‘Stray Feathers,’ 
1873, p. 273) as Larus occidentalis, Audubon. In winter, no 

