Burgomaster is not a numerous species, and yet it is a
general attendant on the whale-fishers whenever any spoils
are to be obtained. It then hovers over the scene of* action;
and, having marked out : its morsel, descends upon it and
carries it off on the wing. On its descent, the most dainty
pieces must be relinquished, though in the grasp of the
Fulmar Petrel, the Ivory Gull, or th e Kittiwake. Jf-seldom
alights in the’water. When it rests • on; the ice, it selects a
hummock, and fixes itself on the-highest pinnacle. I t is a
rapacious animal, and, when without other food, falls upon
the smaller species of birds and eats them. • I have found the
bones of a small bird in its stomach, and have'observedd#4h
pursuit of the little Auk. Its eggs I have found on the beach
of Spitsbergen, deposited in the-same way a s^ h o s e '-o flh e
Tern, namely, on the shi ngl©';. above high-water mark, where
the full power of the sun falls
The remarks "of * Faber in reference to this- spefei&dat Iceland
are, in substance, as follows ISiPThis bird renistins here
all the year, keeping'fhe-open sea in winter, and’breeding in
summer o.n the rocks of the. southern and wegtefe-parts in
company with Larus marinus, which? it' resembles-*in soihe
of its habits,.in its nest, aud its- 6ggs.;C Tt attacks smaller
birds, and robs their nests for food. ^jjjfbfeeds ralso4#^alf#er.
pulex and dr anew; extracts the soft animals? from; tlfe shells
of Venus islandied,,. Pectem id&n'dieds1, and'« searches’tcl'osely
for the Lump-sucking-fish,l©yclopierus hdnpmt^h
1 The GlaUcous Gull-'makCd its-'nest-indifferently on-‘the'
projecting ledges of: lofty-Cliffs/- ormnr the' sbaisEbied On
■Spitsbergen the Kev. A. CEs>Eat.on • found nests a-mongthb
sitting Eider'Bucks,' and-*' enC was piaced-upon
roots bof^a spruce! fir among the drift wood.'-^B^^-were:
taken on the 15th June^-and' young observed'efr-the 18th
July ^Zool. ggjj p. -3‘811). ^She^-egg?is of a *stone^©lour,
spotted with ash-grey and'two shades'of"bfoMi,-and measure's1
2*9-by;2 in. The Glaucous'Gull hasS bred'and successfully;
reared-its young in- the ZoolbgicalciSobm^
seireraldceasionsC-'“
The adult -bird has the bill yellow-, the inferior angle W
the lower mandible orange-red ; irides straw-yellow; all the
plumage nearly white, but with a tinge of pale-grey over the
back and wing-coverts ; primaries white,* reaching but little,
if any, beyond the end of the tail ;■ -legs and fe'et bright* pink
flesh-colour. Old males have been taken measuring, from
the point of the beakbtbthegndjofr the tail-feathers,'thirty-
two and even* thirty-three inches ; the wing, front f e e ' carpal
joint to the endm#the longest' quill-feather, nineteen inches.
The females are smaller: sonfetlmes5 consmtSIbly 'so. In
winter the headland neck are streaked with ash-grey.
The young has thedifll pale brown'at the base,Wepoinf dark
horn-colour; the-irides dark blue; head; neck, back»1 and wing-
coverts_a,,mixture of pale ash-brown and dull whit©:;.- scapulars
and tertials transversely barred with pale:brown, and dipped
with g^e^-sh-white'] primaries and secondaries uhifdrifl:paip
yellowish;gL!©y:;|ppper and under tail-coverts dull white, barred
with pale 'brawn; tail-feathers uniform yellowish-brown;
wings TCniy- reaching' to the end of the tail ]bhm,rihroat,
and breakt^dhll white, mottled with pale brown, Belly more
untfdrm inP®our, and greyis^^r^h?; 'legsyand feetgilivid
fleSh-gelour. The next year the mottlin^l^heceme*’" paler;
and jushbefore’the final auti3®nal moult, when the-pearl-grey
mantle will be ;‘assp.med,-&e colour is#.©f a nearly uniform
cream'ymfpvin perfect white:' r Birds in this particulaFstage;'
wha.'chlasts but a very’short"diniTe, are very rarely 'obtained;,
and on’ one exapipleiprocured ;ip Npfth America Bichard-
son bestowedthe name offLdrus :Kutc%ins4; similar ones have
sine© -tbit# been* taken: in (d^pan and in;|lf orway,-’ and the
Editor hashseendurdSpass thioughthis^atage in -the'Gardens *
of- the* Zf^logical''S©cfC^Sfl
.CTh^dffiw’ny l^stling id of a, somewhat greybritint than the
young Herring Gull,' and mb^fnarkings oh the back 'are
fewer and fainter.