38 BRITAIN S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



THE BLACK=HEADED GULL 



(Larus ridibundus). 

 Plate 13. 



There are some who object to the name Black-headed 

 Gull on the score of inaccuracy, and would substitute for 

 it ' Brown-headed Gull/ But to demand absolute accu- 

 racy in a bird's popular name seems to us absurd, and 

 we uphold the opinion that, as the GulPs ' hood,' although 

 really of dark chocolate hue, appears black at distances at 

 which the bird may usually be observed when alive and 

 free, the term ' black-headed ' is perfectly justifiable in a 

 popular name. The name ' Laughing Gull,' sometimes 

 popularly applied to this species, is also objected to as 

 being rather far-fetched. In this connection Mr Hudson 

 has made the interesting statement that the cry, although 

 not very like a European laugh, is not unlike a negro's. 



Still another popular name, ' Peewit Gull,' raises an 

 interesting point. In winter Black-headed Gulls have the 

 habit of watching Lapwings feeding in the fields, chasing 

 them about, and bullying them into surrendering the 

 worms and other things they have just found. The habit 

 is probably the reason for the name; but other birds than 

 Lapwings are sometimes victimised in this way. 



Among common British Gulls the Black-headed Gull is 

 readily distinguished by its dark hood ; but other points 

 to be noted are the small size and the bright-red colour 

 of legs and beak. The hood disappears in winter, but 

 traces of it may always be seen. The dark feathers are 

 of course lost at the annual complete moult in autumn ; 

 but the mode of reassumption of the hood in spring was 

 for some time a matter of dispute. It has been recently 



