BLACK-HEADED GULL. 



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a resident bird, frequenting our coasts throughout the 

 greater part of the year, but retiring inland from 

 March to July to breed. It is a far more common 

 bird in the North than in the South, and the majority 

 of its breeding places are in Scotland and Ireland, 

 the nature of the ground being more suitable for its 

 purpose. They breed in swampy districts, and around 



BLACK-HEADED GULL. 



the inland ponds and marshes. The largest English 

 " Gullery " is at Scoulton Mere in Norfolk. Here 

 some ten or twelve thousand birds build annually. 

 If their eggs are taken, the birds will lay again, and 

 even a third time or fourth time, the eggs becoming 

 smaller in each instance, but only one brood is reared 

 in the year. Large numbers of eggs are collected 



