Brrp Lire anp Birp PHOTOGRAPHY. 205 
masked gull. This bird is a great benefactor to agriculture, 
but as is the case with rooks, kestrels, and owls, certain indi- 
viduals by their carnivorous malpractices call down wrath on the 
whole of their community. At the Dhu Loch, near Capenoch, 
there is what is termed a large “ gullery ’’ of these birds. Here 
we see the birds at the Dhu Loch hovering over their nests. 
This photograph hardly gives a notion of the number of birds 
that assemble here to nest. This photograph is of the bird’s 
nest and eggs; you will note that they are not unlike those of 
the lapwing, being of an olivaceous ground colour, blotched and 
spotted with dark brown, with undermarkings of grey, but not so 
pyriform in shape. ‘They are often sold to the uninitiated as 
plover’s eggs. This photograph, taken in Ireland, shows a 
clutch of extraordinary eggs, all pale blue, without any markings 
whatever. To find one egg of a clutch lacking in pigmentary 
colouration is not very unusual, but to find all three eggs in one 
nest absolutely spotless is, I believe, unprecedented. This 
picture is of the owner of the nest, anxious to resume its duties 
as a mother, yet still not quite certain what the camera is going 
te do. All fears set at rest, we see the bird once more settled 
on her eggs. 
PUFFIN. 
This picture shows the nest and egg of a puffin. Asa rule 
these birds nest in burrows, and so large are the nesting colonies 
that it is at times impossible to walk over the ground they have 
burrowed, so often does one sink in up to one’s knees. Here 
we see a colony of puffins on their nesting ground. You will 
notice that these birds carry themselves at an unusually upright 
angle. 
GreAT AUK. 
Our next photograph is of an extinct bird, the great auk. 
This photograph is from a stuffed specimen in the York Museum, 
to which it passed from the Strickland collection. The bird 
here shown is in summer plumage. This slide shows the great 
auk in winter plumage, and it will be noticed that the throat at 
this season of the year is whiter. This photograph is also from 
a specimen in the York Museum, who obtained it from the Rud- 
stone Read collection, to whom it had been presented by Mr Bell 
of Thirsk. It may be interesting to note that the last great auk 
was killed in 1844; the last British specimen being killed some 
