158 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[July 1, 1870. 



street, in all the discomfort of a London toilette, 

 midst cabs and carriages, crowd and confu- 

 sion. To-day we are sitting on the edge of 

 Swyre Cliff, Dorsetshire, or on the summit of 

 Beachy Head, dressed in an old shooting-coat and 

 "wideawake," listening to the roar of waves, and 

 the scream of gulls and guillemots ! 



With new scenes come new thoughts, and we 

 forget entirely the busy throng which we have so 

 lately left behind, or think of it only to regret that 

 we must return to it. 



The birds, the seaweeds, the insects, and the 

 shells in turn engross our attention, and we find 



the Greater Black-backed Guli (L. marinus) and the 

 Kittiwake (L. tridactylus) are often found in the 

 same cliffs with the Herring Gull ; but, except in 

 favoured localities (as, for example, at Lundy 

 Island, in the Bristol Channel), these two species, 

 in the south at least, are in the minority in point 

 of numbers, and the Lesser Black-backed Gull 

 {L.fuscus) is rare. Take atrip to Northumberland, 

 the Earne Islands, and Holy Island, and you will 

 find the case reversed. There the Kittiwake and 

 Lesser Black-backed Gull are very numerous, and 

 the Herring Gull is scarce. Eurther north— that 

 is, in Scotland— we meet with the Common] Gull 



Eig. 157. The Herring Gull. 



occupation for a whole day in the study of a single 

 species. 



Almost as a matter of course the seafowl, by their 

 cries and conspicuous plumage, attract especial 

 notice, and to the ornithologist no greater treat can 

 be afforded than a visit to one of their breeding- 

 stations during the time the birds are sitting. 



The most widely-distributed of all the Gulls, 

 probably, is the Herring Gull. During the nesting 

 season this species may be found on all the rocky 

 portions of our coast, but it is commoner on the 

 west and south than on the east and north. Indeed, 

 on the Welsh headlands, and throughout the entire 

 range of cliffs from Cornwall to Sussex inclusively, 

 this is the Gull most frequently met with. It is true 



(L. canus) much more frequently than in England. 

 The only other resident species of Gull to be 

 mentioned is the Black-headed or Peewit Gull (Z. 

 ridibundus). This bird, however, does not breed in 

 the cliffs as the others do, but makes its nest inland 

 on the ground, and differs materially from its con- 

 geners both in haunts and habits. 



The appearance of certain Gulls when at a dis- 

 tance is very deceptive. The Herring Gull, Kitti- 

 wake, and Common Gull, are frequently confounded, 

 from the similarity of their plumage and the diffi- 

 culty in estimating their size, except when near 

 enough to be within shot. It requires a good glass 

 and a practised eye to identify them at a long range. 

 These three, in summer, all have the head, neck, 



