EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. Ill 



species has a very restricted range, being confined to the shores 

 of Western Europe and North Africa. 



The nests are placed in various situations. In the Fame 

 Islands, wherever a suitable niche in the bare rocks occurs, a large 

 slatternly nest is placed in it, composed of dry grass and the dead 

 leaves of the various marine plants which grow on the neigh- 

 bouring islands, frequently mixed with a bunch or two of sea- 

 weed. On other islands the nests are built on the grass, and 

 occasionally almost hidden in the masses of bladder campion, 

 which grows in great profusion in many places. 



Three is the usual number of eggs in each nest. They vary 

 much in size, shape, and tint. The colour ranges from pale 

 bluish-green to almost white, and from greyish-buff through pale 

 brown to dark brown. The surface-spots are rich dark brown, 

 sometimes approaching black, and the underlying spots are 

 brownish-grey. On some eggs the spots are very small and 

 evenly distributed over the entire surface ; on others they are 

 large blotches and very few in number : they are usually largest 

 and most numerous at the large end, where they often form a 

 semi-confluent zone. In rare instances the spots assume the 

 form of fantastically-shaped streaks and blotches. The eggs vary 

 in length from 2"8 to 2'4 inches, and in breadth from 20 to 1'7 

 inch. It is very important that eggs of this species should be 

 carefully identified, as many of them are indistinguishable from 

 those of the Herring Gull. 



THE GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



(Larus mar inns.) 



Plate 35, Figs. 1, 2. 



The Great Black-backed Gull is a resident in the British 

 Islands, but in the breeding-season it is principally confined to 

 the vicinity of rocky coasts or mountain lakes. It is conse- 

 quently much more common in Scotland than in England. 



On the European coast its most southern breeding locality is 

 North-western France ; thence it breeds further north on the 

 shores of the German Ocean and the Baltic Sea, as far north 

 as the North Cape, and as far east as the delta of the Petchora. 

 It nests on the Faroes, in Iceland, and in Greenland as far north 



