HERRING GULL. 289 



Diagnostic characters : The size, general brown 

 appearance, and large cliaracter of the markings dis- 

 tinguish the eggs of the Kittivvake from those of other 

 species. When taken from the nest no confusion can 

 possibly arise. 



Family LARID/E. Ger.us Larus. 



Sub-family LARINAL. 



HERRING GULL. 



Larus argentatus, Gfiielin. 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, May and early June. 



British breeding area : The Herring Gull is 

 widely distributed round the British coasts, from the 

 cliffs of the south coast of England to those of the 

 Orkneys and the Shetlands, from the Fame Islands 

 and the Bass in the east to the Hebrides, St. Kilda, 

 the Irish mainland, and the Blaskets in the west. 



Breeding habits : The Herring Gull is a resident 

 in the British Islands, but more widely distributed in 

 winter than in summer. Its principal breeding-places 

 are on ocean cliffs, both those that are broken up into 

 crags and downs, and those that rise sheer from the 

 water ; rock-stacks, and low rocky islands. Much less 

 frequently it resorts to marshes (Foulshaw Moss in 

 Westmoreland, for instance) and small islands in lochs. 

 This bird is gregarious during the breeding season, and 

 in some localities, as for instance at the Fames, and on 

 the cliffs between Berry Head and Dartmouth, its 

 colonies are very extensive. Owing, however, to the 



ease with which this Gull accommodates itself to 



u 



