684 



GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 

 Larus marinus (L.). 



Winter visitant, fairly common, arrives on the coast in autumn 

 and departs again in spring. 



Probably the first Yorkshire mention of this fine bird 

 is that by Thomas Alhs, written in 1844 : — 



Larus tnatinus. — Great Black-backed Gull — Occurs at times about 

 Huddersfield and Barnsley ; it is common on the coast. 



This, the largest of the British Gulls,, is a winter visitant 

 to Yorkshire, making its appearance after the nesting season, 

 accompanied by the young birds, and departing for its breeding 

 quarters again in spring. Some of the immature birds remain 

 throughout the year. 



It is fairly abundant on the coast and in the Humber 

 and Tees areas, both in the immature and mature stages, 

 and is known as one of the most voracious feeders amongst 

 the frequenters of the shore. One, procured on the sands 

 at Redcar in my presence, had made its last meal of a 

 Redshank, that had been swallowed whole ; another, at the 

 Teesmouth, disgorged no fewer than six full-sized herrings, 

 two being quite fresh ; j^et another, an immature bird killed 

 at Bridlington, in January 1895, had in its stomach a Little 

 Auk, which was so slightly damaged that it was preserved 

 by a taxidermist {Nat. 1895, p. 121). 



Like the two preceding species, this one is noticed in 

 stormy weather passing along the coast in those strange move- 

 ments of Gulls which are so little understood ; sometimes 

 for several days together they may be noticed in small bodies, 

 composed of both young and adults, their powerful pinions 

 enabling them to overcome the force of the fiercest gales. 

 On 23rd October 1881, and for several days previously, with 

 strong easterly gales, there was a great passage of mature 

 birds at Redcar, as many as a hundred going by to the north- 

 west in the course of one day ; a more extensive migration 

 than had been known for many years (Third Migration Report, 



