. A history of the birds of Europe, not observed in the British Isles . 6 PALMirEDES. Family LARID^. (Bonaparte.) Genus Larus. (Linnceus.) GEE AT BLACK-HEADED GULL. Larus ichthyaetos. Larus ichthyaetos, . Pallas. Xema ichthyoetum, Bonaparte. Mouette ichthyaete, Of the Feench. Fischmove, Of the Geemans. jRyhalc, Of the Eussians. Charahalta, Of the Taetaes. Great Gull, Latham. Specific Characters.—Spring plumage. Beak large and thick;tarsi long; head and neck velvety black, with a white spot overeach eye; mantle greyish blue. Length twenty-five inches; wing,from carpus to tip, eighteen inches an
. A history of the birds of Europe, not observed in the British Isles . 6 PALMirEDES. Family LARID^. (Bonaparte.) Genus Larus. (Linnceus.) GEE AT BLACK-HEADED GULL. Larus ichthyaetos. Larus ichthyaetos, . Pallas. Xema ichthyoetum, Bonaparte. Mouette ichthyaete, Of the Feench. Fischmove, Of the Geemans. jRyhalc, Of the Eussians. Charahalta, Of the Taetaes. Great Gull, Latham. Specific Characters.—Spring plumage. Beak large and thick;tarsi long; head and neck velvety black, with a white spot overeach eye; mantle greyish blue. Length twenty-five inches; wing,from carpus to tip, eighteen inches and a half; tarsus threeinches; bare part above knee one inch and three quarters; bill,from gape, three inches and five eighths; bill, from forehead,two inches and a half. This interesting bird was sliot the end of May orbeginning of June, 1859, in the River Exmouth, byWilliam Pine, the boatman of W. Taylor, Esq., ofBridgewater, whence the specimen passed to the later. W. L. Eoss, Esq., by whom a description will befound in the Zoologist for 1860, p. 6860, as well as. J GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL. 107 in tlie Annals and Magazine of Katural Historyfor December of that year. As it lias not been figured as an English specimen,it will fall into the list of birds introduced into thiswork. Its appearance on our shores is quite belongs properly to the Caspian and Red Seas,and, like other large species, occasionally flies out ofits native localities. In Europe it has been observed in the IonianIslands, in Hungary, and Switzerland. Dr. LeithAdams informs me that it is common on the Delta ofthe Indus, in the Bay of Bengal, and the IndianOcean. It is in fact an Eastern species, which occa-sionally wanders into Europe. It nests, according to Pallas, in the middle of thedowns on the sea-shore. It lays two or three eggs,which are oblong, pale grey, with a number of lightor dark brown spots. It feeds on fish, and it has avoice strong and deep, like that of a crow. As Mr. Rosss desc
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1859
