BREEDING COLONIES OF THE BLACK-HEADED GULL 71 



BREEDING COLONIES OF THE BLACK-HEADED 

 GULL IN THE FORTH AREA. 



By William Evans, F.R.S.E., M.B.O.U. 



Having had a fairly long acquaintance with most of the 

 " gulleries " o{ Larus ridibundus situated within the boundaries 

 of the Forth area, the following particulars, based largely 

 on entries in my note-books, may be useful, especially for 

 reference in years to come. From the economic stand- 

 point the Black-headed Gull has attracted a considerable 

 amount of attention, its protection being advocated or 

 denounced according to the nature of the interests involved. 

 While the species is undoubtedly beneficial to the farmer, 

 the presence of a large colony on a grouse moor, or a loch 

 where fishing interests are at stake, is usually looked upon 

 with disfavour. That the eggs have a certain economic 

 value is a point not to be overlooked. At some gulleries 

 these are systematically gathered and sent to merchants 

 in the large towns, where it is not unusual to see them doing 

 duty as plovers' eggs. There is always more or less 

 promiscuous gathering of the eggs for domestic use locally, 

 while not a few are utilised as food for young pheasants. 

 Among the objections to the presence of a gullery on an 

 estate, is the amount of trespass in search of the eggs to 

 which it leads. 



At the present time the number of separate gulleries in 

 the Forth area may be put down at twelve. The existence 

 of eight of these was known to me thirty-five to forty years 

 ago, and it may safely be assumed that some of them date 

 much further back than that, although records appear to be 

 all but non-existent. There is good evidence, however, that 

 one of the Midlothian gulleries namely that on Auchencorth 

 Moss, of which I have personal knowledge since 1866 was 

 in existence in the eighteenth century, and we have Pennant's 

 statement that "Pewit Gulls "bred at Loch Leven in 1769 

 (^A Tour in Scotland). Yet one looks in vain for light on 

 the subject in the works of Jardine, MacGillivray, and other 



