538 THE FEATHEKEU TRIBES. 



THE liLACK-IlEADEl) GLl.E. 



This bird abounds in various parts of the British coasts, and in some phices is called 

 the browu-hcadcd gull. To adopt the words of the authors of the " Catalogue of Norfolk 

 and Sufl'olk Birds :" " Near the centre of the county of Norfolk, at the distance of about 

 twenty-tive miles from the sea, and two from Hinghain, 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, on which there are some birch and some willow trees. There 

 is no river communicating between the mere and the sea. This mere has from time 

 immemorial been a fa-sourite breeding-place 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 ha^•c 

 always arrived. They spread themselves o\er 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 dcAour, they render essential ser\ ice 

 to the farmer. If the spring is mild, the gu'ls 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 gathered upwards of a thousand a day. These eggs are sold 

 on the spot, at the rate of fourpence a score, and are regularly sent in considerable 

 quantities to the niarkets at Norwich and Lynn. Tliey are eaten cold like lapwing's 

 co-o-s, and also used for culinary purposes ; but they are rather of an inferior quality, and 

 .some^\hat like duck's eggs in flavour. Tlie person who sells these eggs gives fifteen 

 pounds a j'ear for the privilege of collecting them. 



"This species of gull never lays more than three eggs the flrst time; but if these are 

 taken, it will lay again. "We found many of tlic old birds sitting in the middle of June ; 

 most of these birds had only one egg in the nest, but a few of them had two. Their 

 nests are made of the tops of reeds and sedge, and are very flat at the surface. The eggs 

 vary so much in size, shape, and colour, that a person not well acquainted with thenr 

 would suppose .some of them to belong to a difterent .species of bird. Some are tliickly 

 covered with dusky spots, and others are of a light blue colour, without any spots at all. 

 The young birds leave the nest as soon as hutched, and take to the water. 



" When (hey can fly well tlie old ones depart with tlicni, and disperse themselves on the 

 sea-coast, where they are found during the autumn and winter. By the middle of July 

 they all leave Scoulton, and are not seen there again (ill the following spring. AVc were 

 a little surprised at seeing some of these gulls aliglit and sit upon some low bu.sliy willows 

 which grow on the island. No other than the brown-headed gull breeds at this mere ; a 

 few of them also breed in many of the marslies contiguous to the sea-coast of Norfolk." 



'r>^ 



■ITIK (.KEVn.U IUA(K-r.A( KID (.n,i..t 



Mr. llcwitson states, lluit " this species breeds in abundance on a I'lW (if (lie islaiuls of 

 ( >rknoy and Shetland. Tlic l)irds select with care either a place suiidundcd liy (lie 

 waters of some inland lake, whore no boat lias ever been, or one that is dillicult of access 

 by climbing. A communication from one i-ock to another is formed by two parallel ropes, 

 between which a large wooden box is suspended by holes in each side, through which tlie 

 ropes pass, and the box is (bus readily drawn lidiii rock to rock ; after (lie eggs are all 

 carried off, .sheep are convejed across to pasture on (lie ricli grass produced by the dung 

 of (he birds." 



• I.miw Hid IniiulUN. + l,iiiu» Mm ilIll^.- !'( mi. 



