t92i.] Birds of AUlernejj. 447 



two occasions found nosts contaiiiinp; four. The nests of this 

 bird an^ very varied in construction, and well worth studyinn-. 

 Porha[)S more otten than not, no nest is constructed at all, 

 but the eggs deposited amongst the stones of the beach. 

 Again, the eggs are often laid in ;i hollow formed against 

 the seaweed thrown up at high spring-tides. I once found 

 two eggs jambed in a crevice between two large stones, 

 their small ends v(>rticallv downwards — an extraordinary 

 and one would imagine inicomfortable position, especially 

 for the young birds, if they ever hatched out. Nests are 

 often carefully lined with small limpet shells, some half an 

 inch in diameter, with their small ends uppermost, and as 

 these have usually been washec] smooth and white by the 

 action of the waves, the nests thus formed are very 

 conspicuous. I once found one in an old fort. It was 

 placed in a hollow^ against the racer of an old gun (Mnplace- 

 ment, and lined with granite-gravel taken from the old 

 pathway in the fort. This gravel, which normally is rough 

 and angular, was most carefully laid and fitted together, 

 a flat surface of each pebble upwards, giving the appearance 

 of an old Roman mosaic work. 



Areniria interpres. The Turnstone. 



A common winter visitor, arriving in late August or 

 September. A few remain throughout the year, but, I think, 

 only non-breeding birds. Mr. Cecil Smith considered that 

 they bred on the islands, but the evidence of this seemed to 

 be uncertain even in his time, and I do not know that the 

 nest and eggs have actually been found. 



Larus canus. The Common Gull. 



Mr. Cecil Smith says :—" The Common Gull, though by 

 no means uncommon in the Channel Islands during the 

 winter, never remains to breed." 



Larus argeutatus. Th(> Herring-Gull. 



A connnon resident, but more plentiful during the 

 breeding-season than at other times of the year. 



