The Common Gull 



THE Common Gull is very much like the 

 herring gull in appearance. Its head 

 and neck are snowy white and the back and 

 wings pearl grey, the latter tipped with 

 black and white. The under parts are pure 

 white. It is, however, only some eighteen 

 inches in length and has yellowish green 

 legs, whereas the herring gull is about 

 twenty-four inches long and has flesh- 

 coloured legs. 



Although plentiful all round our coast dur- 

 ing the winter, this species, curiously enough, 

 rarely breeds either in England or Wales, 

 in spite of the fact that it does so com- 

 monly in certain parts of Scotland and in 

 the north and west of Ireland. 



The nest is built amongst heather and 

 coarse grass, on ledges and in crevices of rocks 

 on the sea-shore, and upon islands in both 

 salt and fresh water lochs. It is made of 

 heather, dry seaweed and grass, and is fre- 



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