148 CATCHING YOUNG GULLS. 



pendicular precipice, an unbroken face of white chalk 

 reflecting the rays of a July sun, was most oppressive 

 to the eyes, soon inducing frontal headache ; and the 

 loose shingle alternating with looser sand afforded no 

 firm hold for the sinking and sliding footsteps. My 

 two lads ran before, chasing, with great glee, the 

 young gulls, almost fledged, which had descended in 

 some unintelligible manner, from their nest-ledges up 

 the precipice, but were unable to fly. Cutting off 

 their retreat to the water, the boys chased them till 

 the poor things sought refuge in some corner of the 

 cliff, where of course they were easily caught. They 

 brought home two, nearly grown, which I believe 

 they kept in their gardens for some time. They were 

 probably the Lesser Black-backed Gull {Larusfuscus), 

 though, as several species breed about these cliffs, 

 which present little difference in their nesting plumage, 

 I cannot be certain. 



A heap of broken rocks, half exposed at lowest 

 water, lies off the corner that terminates the beach. 

 It is known to the fishermen by the name of the Cow 

 and Calf. These rocks I wished to examine for Algge, 

 and found my search not fruitless. The species were 

 growing from the broken fragments of fallen chalk in 

 considerable abundance, and the specimens were par- 

 ticularly well-grown. Among them a pretty species 

 was common, which I had not observed at Weymouth, 

 — Chylocladia ovalis. I have compared the ramuli 

 of C. articulata to bladders of red wine, set in chains ; 

 those of the present species are still more like such 

 bladders, being more oval, and set in rows along the 

 branches ; the plant is also taller and more ramified. 



