Sle sting and Rearing of Landrails in Captivity. 61 



other I oo about 4 p.m. 

 Live ants" eggs and Q^g (hard boiled) and breadcrumbs. 



The diet for the lirst tliree days, however, appeared to 

 consist entirely of earthworms, and I believe these to !je an 

 absolutely necessary item of the diet, for the first few weeks 

 at all c\ents. Curioush- enough the sexes were equally divided 

 amongst the young, three cocks and three hens. All of them 

 were disposed of. mostly to our members, in whose aviaries. 

 1 tru.-^i \hv\ will suc( (' ~>tulh' rcai' young this coming -^casun. 



i wili end uitli the further pious hope that they (the 

 menlber^ in question I will be a^ lucky as I was this year in 

 llieir cock b'.rd.! 



The Story of my Black-headed Gull. 



1)V Fraxk Dawson-Smitii. 



Soir.e \ear. age I recei\ed from a friend in Lauta.-^hire 

 a large lra\eliiiig lianqx'r conlaiuing various sea and Thore 

 birtis. Among them were three (lulls. Two of these were 

 Kill. wake-, and the ihirti was supposed to be a iUat k-headed 

 (.u!l ill winler plumage. It is the story of the lasl-nanifd that 

 I will now relate. I must preface my remarks by sa>iiig that 

 lie was duiib(jd " Blai k-headed OuU" for want (^1 a truer 

 dclinilion : but he was not pur ct simple of that breed. ()ne 

 aviculluribt who saw him ga\ c his opinion that he. was a 

 " Peach dull." Xob<xly could place him exactly. Two fairly 

 expert opinions declared him to be a Masked Gull, and I am 

 inclined to agree that this was the most correct description. 

 He was much smaller than the ordinary niack-headixl (iull. 

 and his summer head plumage was not black, but brown, and 

 it did not cover his head beyond the front i)art like a mask. 

 Added to this he was extremely pugilistic and ciuarrclsonic 

 with other birds, whether of his own r)r ditit'erent species, while 

 an ordinary Black-headed (iull is almost invariably gentle 

 and friendly. My mysterious friend was ( uriously marked. In 

 place of the usual spot on the side of the head, he possessed 

 two concentric rings of black- like two bars. And he was 

 at once given the name of " Jiarred Head," An adult bird 



