BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 37 



tlie largest of the whole Gull family and often measures 

 thirty inches from the tip of the beak to the end of 

 the tail. 



At most of the English localities mentioned for the 

 preceding species, the Great Black-backed Gull nests in 

 small numbers; but it is absent as a breeding species from 

 the Fames and the whole east coast. On the east coast 

 of Scotland a few pairs may be found here and there, but 

 even in Orkney and Shetland the bird is not very com- 

 mon. In the Outer Hebrides, however, and on the north- 

 west coasts of Ireland it nests quite abundantly, although 

 never in such huge numbers as its smaller relative, from 

 twenty to thirty pairs being considered rather a large 

 colony. In spite o^ this it is decidedly commoner than 

 the Lesser Black-backed Gull on parts of our coasts in 

 winter, although generally seen singly or in pairs. 



There is considerable variety in the nesting-places hill- 

 tops, cliffs, and islets in mountain lochs. The three ego-s 

 are usually light brown, handsomely marked with gray 

 and umber, and can generally be identified by their size 

 alone. 



A bird of noble appearance and majestic flight, it is 

 nevertheless a carrion-eater and a slaughterer of the 

 weakly and the wounded — from sheep to young birds. 



Just as there is a larger and a smaller black-backed 

 and dark-winged Gull in north temperate latitudes, so 

 there are two light-mantled, white-winged species of about 

 the same sizes in the Arctic region. These— the Glaucous, 

 or Burgomaster, and Iceland Gulls— are uncommon, cold- 

 weather visitors to the British Islands. 



