120 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



from olive-green to buffisli-brown, spotted and 

 blotched with dark brown and grey. Variable, and 

 bearing a very close resemblance to the eggs of 

 the Lesser Black-backed Gull, but said to run 

 larger by some authorities, and to be more spotted 

 and less blotched. The lishermen reckon to dis- 

 tinguish them from those of the above-mentioned 

 species by the paler ground-colour of the shell ; 

 but the only sure method of identification I have 

 found is to watch the parent bird on to her nest. 

 Average size about 2*85 by 2'0 in. 



Time. — May and June. 



BejiiarJis. — Resident. Call-notes, Jiau-Jtau-Jiau ; 

 alarm, hj-eoA\ Local and other names : none. Sits 

 lightly, and watches the intruder closely from a 

 distance of eighty or a hundred yards. A terrible 

 egg-stealer. 



GULL, KITTIWAKE. See Kittiwake. 



GULL, LESSER BLACK-BACKED. 



Description of Parent Birch. — Length about 

 twenty-three inches. Beak of medium length, 

 nearly straight, and yellow, with the exception of 

 an orange spot on the under mandible. Irides 

 straw colour. Head and neck all round pure white. 

 Back and wings dark slate-grey, some of the quills 

 being slightly tipped with white. Upper tail- 

 coverts and tail-quills white. Breast, belly, vent, 

 and under tail-coverts pure white. 



The female is said to be a little smaller, and 

 the feathers of the back and wings to vary much 

 in tint with age and locality. 



Situation and Locality. — On the ground, iu 



