Speoal Review
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SPEOAL REVIEW By D. D. HARBER THE BIRDS OF THE SOVIET UNION. Under the general editorship of G. P. DEMENTIEV and N. A. GLADKOV. (State Publishers "Soviet Science", Moscow, 1951-54). 6 vols. (In Russian). CONTENTS OF VOLUME 3 (1951: 680 pages)* (Part II) THE Lariformes are considered a separate order by the Russians and are dealt with by G. P. Dementiev. On the one hand, he writes, they approach the waders and on the other the auks. But "the common morphological characteristics are not numerous and the biological differences are very considerable. Therefore the Charadriiformes of the old (and of some new) authors, where auks, gulls and waders are united' in a single order, are a mixed group. The probability of a common origin is of course not enough to permit these biologically different birds to be attributed to one order." The wide-spread opinion that birds of this order are harmful because they feed on fish cannot be considered cor rect. Most commonly they take fish which is dead or dying and only a small percentage of fish which is useful to Man. Moreover the larger birds of this order destroy obnoxious rodents and the value of gulls and terns in destroying insect pests is recognised in "all the most recent investigations". The Great Skua (Stercorarius skua) is a rare bird in the Soviet Union, being occasionally recorded between the Murman coast and Novaya Zemlya. There are old records for the Kiev district about which the writer is somewhat doubtful. The Pomarine Skua (S. potnarinus) has occurred on a number of occasions on migration in the interior of the Soviet Union. Visits to the Black Sea and the Caspian "are probable but in fact remain unproved". The Arctic Skua (S. parasiticus) breeds as far south as Kam chatka. Breeding on the New Siberian Islands cannot yet be regarded as certain. While it outnumbers the Pomarine Skua in Europe it is outnumbered by it in Siberia. The Long-tailed Skua (S. longicaudus) does not normally nest on Spitsbergen or on Jan Mayen. Details are given of seasonal variations of the food of this and the last species. The race pallescens of the Long- * Discussions of the contents of volumes 1 and 2 appeared in previous issues on pages 221-224 and 268-276. The first part of volume 3 was described on pages 313-319. 343 344 BRITISH BIRDS [VOL. XLVIII tailed Skua (given as doubtful by The Handbook) is recognized and is stated to breed eastwards from the lower reaches of the Kolyma. Birds from the New Siberian Islands and the lower Indigirka are transitional in type. The Ivory Gull (Pagophila eburnea) probably nests at about lat. 75° N. on Novaya Zemlya, but the actual site has not yet been found. It nests on Lone Island (Einsamkeit), on Severnaya Zemlya and perhaps on Bennett, Herald and Polynia. There does not seem to be any fresh information on nesting on these last three islands since M'Clintock wrote in 1856. On rare occasions stragglers are found in the interior of the Soviet Union. Its incu bation period is given as a little less than a month. On Novaya Zemlya it has been observed to attack young auks (Gorbunov, 1929). The breeding of the Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyia) on Vaigach (Waigatz), given as doubtful in The Handbook, is con firmed. There are a number of records of this species for the interior of the country. The largest colony of the typical form (off the Murman coast) has rather more than 6,000 pairs. Its incubation period is stated to be 24-25 days. The range of the eastern race pollicaris is not fully known, but it is believed not to nest on Wrangel and Herald Islands. It is stated that recent investigations have added little to the information on the distribution of Ross's Gull (Rhodostethia rosea) obtained by Buturlin in 1905. It may perhaps nest at the mouth of the Yana and on the lower Khroma. It may extend about 100 miles east of the mouth of the Kolyma. There are indications that in years of severe flooding this bird may not nest at all and this may explain its early appearance at times in the north. Four eggs (one of them infertile) were once found in a nest. Its incubation period is rather more than three weeks. It apparently winters in those parts of the Arctic Ocean free from ice. Since 1949 this species has been put on the list of com pletely protected birds in Yakutia. Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini) nests on Wrangel Island (not given in The Handbook). It is very rare in the interior. It is suggested that this bird probably winters in the ice-free parts of the northern seas. Flocking and the desertion of nesting localities begins very early; Torgashev saw a flock of 120-150 on 15th July on the lower Khatanga. It is a rare bird in the Palaearctic. Apart from a few in Esthonia, the Great Black-backed Gull (Lams marinus) nests only on the Murman coast and its islands in the Soviet Union. "Statements as to its nesting on Kanin, on Vaigach, on the lower Pechora (Pleske, 1928) are not confirmed and all information about encountering the Great Black-backed Gull both here and on the coasts of Siberia is founded on confusion with other species." Its incubation period is given as 29-30 days. The Lesser Black-backed Gull (L. fuscus) does not nest on the VOL. XLVIH] BIRDS OF SOVIET UNION—3 345 eastern Murman coast nor on most of the White Sea coast. It regularly winters in the Black Sea. The Great Black-headed Gull (L. ichythyaetus) breeds in the Crimea; at the delta of the Volga and in an area to the west of this river but not further north than Stalingrad (Kalmuck Steppe); in North Kazakhstan (Kirghiz Steppes) about as far as lat. 500 N.; round the north, east and south shores of the Cas pian"; on the Aral Sea; on Lake Teli-kul; on the lower Syr-Daria (episodically); apparently eastern Pamirs; Balkash; Ala-kul; Sassyk-kul; Issyk-kul; Zaisan ; sporadically on the large lakes of north-west Mongolia and south Altai. There is also an isolated colony on Lake Chany in the Baraba Steppe and there is possibly one on Lake Sevan in Armenia. In the Soviet Union it winters on the south Caspian, on the upper Amu-Daria (apparently) and in the Crimea (occasionally). It is common on the islands of the Caspian and Aral Seas. On Komsomol Island in the former up to 3,000 birds were counted in 1948. In the Syr-Daria delta the first eggs are laid at the beginning of April. There appears to be still no information regarding incubation and fledging periods. Among the items of food listed are the eggs and young of other birds and rodents. The race sibiricus of the Black-headed Gull (L. ridibundus) is not recognized and thus the typical race is given as breeding as far east as Kamchatka and Sakhalin. This species is considered to be very valuable to agriculture by eating rodents and insects, and' regret is expressed that so many birds bred in the Soviet Union fall victims to gunners while wintering or on passage in western and southern Europe. The race relictus of the Mediter ranean Black-headed Gull (L. melanocephalus) is rejected. It is considered possible that the single specimen from which this race Is described is in fact an aberrant example of L. brunneicephalus, particularly since no one has since been able to find another in Mongolia which country has been "sufficiently well investigated ornithologically". There are still no details known of the incu bation and fledging periods of the Mediterranean Black-headed Gull. The Little Gull (L. minutus) normally breeds only as far south as the Volga-Ural Steppes apart from sporadic breeding in the Crimea, the Sea of Azov and Lake Sevan in Armenia. There is an isolated colony in Volhynia. It does not nest in Central Asia but does so as far east as Lake Zaisan. Then there is a gap and breeding begins again a little to the west of Lake Baikal. It is not clear how far east its range extends from there, but it is doubtful if it reaches the sea of Okhotsk. On the whole its numbers are only moderate and its colonies are not of large size. Its incubation-period is given as 23 days (quoted from Tischler, 1941) and the young fly when 21-24 days old. 346 BRITISH BIRDS [VOL. XLVHI The White-winged Black Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) possibly nests in the Novgorod district. This is given as certain in The Handbook. There is a gap in its distribution in central Siberia between the upper Ob and the east of Lake Baikal. Outside the Soviet Union it is found in an isolated area of north-west Mon golia. From Transbaikalia it nests to the Pacific coast and south Sakhalin. Since the time of Pallas there seems to be no evidence that it is to be found on Kamchatka. Its southern limit in central Kazakhstan is not clear and it is not certain whether it breeds on the Syr-Daria and the Amu-Daria. It is abundant in northern Kazakhstan, the Kulunda and Baraba Steppes but sporadic and scarce on the Black Sea. Apparently nothing is known about its incubation and fledging periods. Apart from insects it has been known to eat (more rarely) small fish, frogs, tadpoles, worms and spiders. The Whiskered Tern (C.