34 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



wheeling about over the lakes 

 ill the parks. The black- 

 headed gull receives itspopular 

 name on account of the fact 

 that, like some terns and 

 some other gulls, in the spring, 

 the feathers of the head sud- 

 denl)- acquire a sooty-black 

 colour: all trace of this ,is 

 lost in the winter, sa\e for 

 two patches, one behind each 

 ear. 



The eggs of this bird are 



collected in thousands each 



i ""afiitf'" '' " ~^- ^ - -■ ■ ^'-^ '- -' ^^'-^H^iitt^ 4* ■>">! spi'iiig, and sold in London 



tr.----'-^ -■ ■ "■ *"v. ,' ^ ■*", ^ and other markets as plovers' 



eggs. As many as 20,000 

 have been taken in a season 

 from the extensive gullery at 

 Scoulton Mere, in Norfolk. 

 Three or four eggs are laid in a nest of rushes, which is always placed on the ground in 

 marshy and often inaccessible spots. 



The largest of the Gull Tribe is the GREAT Bl.ACK-BACKED Gui.l,, which is, furthermore, a 

 common British bird ; indeed, it is frequently seen fl\Mng, together with the last-mentioned species, 

 on the Thames, doing its best to get a full share of the tit-bits thrown by interested spectators 

 from the various London bridges. Unlike the black-headed gull, it has no seasonal change 

 of plumage, but is clad all the year round in the purest white, set off by a mantle of bluish 

 black. The young of this bird has a quite distinct plumage of greyish brown, and hence has been 

 described as a distinct species — the Grey Gull. 

 This dress is gradually changed for the adult ^ 



plumage, but the process takes about three years. | 



The KlTTlWAKE is another of the common 



STONE-CURLEW, OR THICK-KNEE 



T/ie plumage so cloidy resembles the sandy soil on luh'ich the bird lives that concealment is easily 

 effected by crouching close to the ground 



British gulls, breeding in thousands in favourable 

 localities on the coasts. Its eggs are deposited 

 on the narrowest and most inaccessible ledges 

 of precipitous cliffs. This species sometimes 

 falls a victim to the fashion of wearing feathers. 

 " At Clovelly," writes Mr. Howard Saunders, 

 " there was a regular staff for preparing plumes ; 

 and fishing-smacks, with extra boats and crews, 

 used to commence their work of destruction at 

 Lundy Island by daybreak on the 1st of 

 August. ... In many cases the wings were 

 torn off the wounded birds before the}- were 

 dead, the mangled victims being tossed back 

 into the water." And he has seen, he con 

 tinucs, " hundreds of young birds dead or 

 dying of starvation in the nests, through the 

 want of their parents' care. ... It is well 

 within the mark to say that at least 9,000 of 

 these inoffensive birds were destroyed during 

 the fortnight." 



lan Buxccard 



CURLEW 



So called on account oj its note 



