14 Baby Birds at Home 



Sometimes it is a bulky structure, and at 

 others a very scanty affair. 



The eggs number two or three, varying 

 from olive green to buffish brown in ground 

 colour, marked with spots and blotches of 

 dark brown and grey. They are very similar 

 in size, shape, and colour to those laid by the 

 Lesser Black-backed Gull, and as the birds 

 sometimes breed together, you can never 

 make quite sure to which species a clutch 

 belongs, unless you see the mother bird 

 on them. 



Young Herring Gulls are covered with 

 greyish buff down, which is streaked and 

 spotted with black on the head and upper 

 parts. When hatched on an island, or in a 

 marsh, they leave the nest almost directly 

 and hide amongst the vegetation, or in holes 

 under overhanging peat banks. 



If you catch one it will soon show you 

 that it has a great idea of defending itself, 

 by attempting to bite your face or hands, 

 and its powerful bill can give an ugly nip. 



Herring Gulls do not, as their name would 

 suggest, confine themselves to eating fish, 

 but will devour the eggs and chicks of other 

 birds. 



