304 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. Lams fuscu8,Un- 

 nseus. Length, 22 in. ; bill, 2*5 in. ; wing, 16-25 in. ; 

 tarsus, 2-5 in. 



Resident ; more numerous in the north, being 

 very common on the west coast and in the Hebrides. 

 Breeds in numbers about the hill lochs of the east 

 of Scotland, and often away from the lochs on the 

 flow ground (" Fauna of Sutherland," p. 232). I 

 have taken the eggs on the Fame Islands, and 

 Mr. Willis Bund has found this species breeding 

 in South Wales. Other nesting haunts are Lundy 

 Island, and the north coast of Devon, by Bolt 

 Head. 



In Ireland the Lesser Black-backed Gull breeds 

 in colonies on the sea cliffs and islands off Donegal, 

 Antrim, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Clare, 

 Galwa}', Mayo, and Sligo, and next to the Herring 

 Gull is the most abundantly distributed species in 

 the breeding season. On the Bog of Allen, in Co. 

 Kildare, between Edenderry and Rathungan, a 

 small colony was found nesting in June 1898 

 (Palmer, Irish Nat., 1898, p. 186). 



The Lesser Black -backed Gull, when near 

 enough to be seen clearly, may be recognised by 

 its bright yellow legs ; the Greater Black-backed 

 Gull has the legs and feet flesh colour, as in the 

 Herring Gull, the two last-named differing in the 

 colour of the mantle, which in the former is dark 

 slate colour, in the latter pearl grey. 



