72 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



[vol. IX. 



more shelter than that afforded V)y a part of the trunk of 

 the tree which overhung a few inches. When I saw the 

 young birds they had just been sup]>lied with a freshly- 

 killed meadow- vole {Microius agreMix) for food. The three 

 young birds varied considerably in age and size, and several 

 days must have elapsed between the hatching of the eggs. 

 On 2nd June I found a young Tawny Owl fallen out of a 

 nest in a tall fir tree, and })y its side a freshl3^-killed long- 

 tailed field-mouse. J. R. B. Masefield. 

 I For a list of instances of Tawnv Owls nesting on the 

 ground, see Brit. Birds, IV.. p. 24-25.— F.C.R.J.] 



FEEDING-HABIT OF THE BLACK-HEADED GULL. 



The photograph here reproduced illustrates a feeding-habit 

 of the Black-headed Gull {Lams r. ridihundus). It was taken 

 from a tent pitched beside a pond, where the Gulls used to 

 feed in the shallow M-ater. The bird while swimming along 



hbA 



suddenly took wing, and rising about six inches above the 

 surface, took a vertical header downwards, in the same way 

 as a Cormorant or Grebe. The result, however, was quite 

 ineffective, for where the Grebe would have sunk like a 

 stone, the Gull was as buoyant as a ping-pong ball and was 

 never able to submerge more than half t)f the body. It 

 could not obtain impetus for the " dive " excejn by spreading 

 the wings, and the period between the spring and the sub- 

 mersion was too short to allow the wings to be folded. Twice 



