52 Messrs. SHEPPARD and WurrrAn's Catalogue 
| Genus LXI. Larus. 
1. L. marinus (Great Black-backed Gull). 
2. L. argentatus (Herring Gull). 
3. L. fuscus (Less Black-backed Gull). 
4. L. canus (Common Gull, Sea Pie, Sea Cob). 
5. L. tridactylus (Kittiwake). 
6. L. ridibundus (Brown-headed Gull, Puit). 
Near the centre of the county of Norfolk, at the distance of 
about twenty-five miles from the sea, and two from Hingham, is 
a large piece of water called Scoulton Mere. In the middle of 
this mere there is a boggy island of seventy acres extent covered 
with reeds, and on which there are some birch- and willow-trees. 
There is no river communicating between the mere and the sea. 
This mere has from time immemorial been a favourite breeding 
spot of the Brown-headed Gull. These birds begin to make 
their appearance at Scoulton about the middle of February; 
and by the end of the first week in March the great body of 
them have always arrived. "They spread themselves over the 
neighbouring country to the distance of several miles in search 
of food, following the plough as regularly as Rooks; and from 
the great quantity of worms and grubs which they devour, they 
render essential service to the farmer. If the spring is mild, the 
Gulls begin to lay about the middle of April; but the month of 
May is the time at which the eggs are found in the greatest 
abundance. At this season a man and three boys find constant 
employment in collecting them, and they have sometimes ga- 
thered upwards of a thousand in a day. These eggs are sold on 
the 
