CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 47 



robber of eggs ; and when at some noted and 

 accessible breeding-place of sea-fowl, such as Lundy 

 Island, a gun is fired by a tourist party for the 

 childish pleasure of seeing an immense number of 

 birds on the wing, then is the opportunity of the 

 Herring-Gulls, and every unprotected egg of 

 Guillemot or Gannet is swept from the ledges in an 

 instant." The bird's principle food is obtained, no 

 doubt, on the sea-shore, though at times it is known 

 to follow the plough. 



The nest, made of herbage or seaweed lined with 

 grass, sometimes on the ledge of a cliff, or may be on 

 the ground, contains two or three eggs of an olive- 

 brown colour, blotched and spotted with dark umber. 

 The young in the first year are of a mottled-brown 

 plumage, and do not come to their proper adult 

 plumage of French grey and white for two or three 

 years. 



" This species is abundant on the coasts of 

 Scandinavia and the Baltic, while immense numbers 

 nest on some of the low Frisian Islands, especially 

 on Sylt. where from 40,000 to 50,000 eggs are taken 

 for eating in a season ; and southward it ranges 

 down the western sea-board of Europe, stretching 

 out to the Azores " (H.S.). 



The Common Gull. 



Order, GavicE. Family^ Laridcs, 



Owing to the "Wild Birds' Protection Act Bill," 

 this species has immensely increased ; so much so 



