Iceland Gull.
Lams leucoptenis, Faber, Prodr. isl. Ora., p. 91.
— argentatus, Sabine, Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xii. p. 546.
— glaucoides, Temm.
— islandicus, Edmondst. Trans. Wem. Soc., vol. iv. p. 500.
arcticus, Macg. Trans. Wern. Soc., vol. v. p. 268.
\ minor, Brehm, Vog. Deutscbl., p. 736.
According to the law o f priority, now so generally followed by naturalists, I ought not to have adopted
Edmonson's name of hiandirut for »his species, inasmuch as that o f leucopterm had long previously been
assigned but this latter term being equally descriptive o f the white-winged Larus glaucus, it
appeared to W so inappropriate that I did not feel justified in employing it. The Glaucous and the Iceland
Gull are in athjMUiientare so much alike, except in size, that one description would serve for both. What
the Lesser Black-backed Gall is to the Greater, such is the present bird to the Glaucous. This circumstance
has not failed toeafi forth remarks from some of the authors who have written on the genus Larus, questioning
the propriety o f separating them ; still, I imagine, there is scarcely a living oruithologist who would think
of regarding she Greater ami Lesser Black-backed Gulls as the same, or the Glaucous and the' Iceland
species as identical. In a state o f nature they have never been known to mix or breed with each other,
although they frequent similar latitudes and countries. The white-winged Gulls are the Arctic representatives
o f the more southerly Black-backed Gulls. , In winter, when the severity of the weather in Baffin’s Bay
and other polar regions is at its height, th e ' white-winged birds beat a retreat to the shores o f the
British Islands; and hence at that season all four of the birds above-mentioned may be found in our seas,
and in some instances intermingle for a short timcA
As regards the habits and economy o f the Iceland (»nil, what has been written respecting those o f the
preceding species (Larus glaucus) is equally descriptive o f those o f the present bird, save and except that
the larger and stronger bird will prey upon living a nM b o f a larger size than his weakly congener. From
what we have been able to gather on their nidificate«»» and the number and colouring o f their eggs, a
great similarity exists ; and in the changes of pluitlnge between youth and maturity they are as nearly
identical as possible.
“ The present species,” says Selby, “ in all its ,vj:- :■ c s o f plumage from adolescence to maturity, bears
the closest resemblance to the Glaucous Gull, and dan only be distinguished by its striking inferiority o f
size and by the greater length o f its wings, which rtLeb, when closed, upwards o f an inch beyond the end
o f the tail, whereas in the other they scarcely reach p .u part. Like its prototype it is a winter visitant to
the Shetland Isles and the northern part o f Scotland; and a few stray as far as the Northumberland coast,
where I have obtained three or four specimens, but |R m the immature plumage. Its habits are stated by
Edmonston to be more lively and active than &**>( of the Glaucous Gull; and it displays more elegance
o f form. It is common On the Iceland com-i, • - i|i<%, 11. is probable, many o f those who winter with us
and in similar latitudes retire to breed. It feeds *#1*; fish, the flesh o f whales, and other carrion.”
The only remark I need make on the above paasa jv- w that, upon the authority o f Professor Newton, the
Iceland Gull does not appear to breed in Iceland, bit ,■ winter visitant, only arriving, according to Faber,
towards the end o f September, awl mostly leaving fa vb< end o f April; and I may add that it migrates much
further south than the shores of Northumberland. U t Rodd speaks o f a very fine nearly adult example
which was obtained on the Scilly Islands; and the |e are many other recorded instances o f its having been
procured in various parts o f England.
Mr. ft. Gray thus writes respecting this bird in I ¡is ‘ Birds o f the West o f Scotland: ’•— “ Although the
Iceland Gull is by no means a common bird on <|ur Scottish coasts, it has been frequently met with both
on the eastern and western shores. From ShetLind to Berwickshire immature birds are seen or killed
almost every winter; and the same may be said o f its appearance from the coast o f Skye to the south o f
Ayrshire. The late Mr. Thompson mentions, in hisj ‘ Birds o f Ireland,’ that he had procured two specimens
Jr»» Ballantrae, on the borders o f Wigtownshire, » here they are seen every winter, and that his friend, Mr.
Sinclair, had also seen six or eight o f these birds jn the Island o f Arran. . The species, indeed, appears to
be a regular visitor to the Clyde and the shores o f Ayrshire, as I have observed it for years in succession