BLACK-HEADED GULL 213 
partially overgrown with rushes. The nests are 
formed of weeds and rushes, placed just above the 
water and near together, several hundreds being 
sometimes found within an area of less than one 
quarter of an acre. The eggs are four in number, 
large for the bird, obtusely pointed, of a pale clay- 
colour, thickly spotted at the big end and sparsely 
on the other parts with black. 
Every morning at break of day the Gulls rise up 
from their nests and hover in a cloud over the marsh, 
producing so great a noise with their mingled cries 
that it can be heard distinctly at a distance of two 
miles. The eggs are considered a great delicacy, 
resembling those of the Plover in taste and appear- 
ance, and are consequently much sought after, so 
that when the locality near which a gullery is situated 
becomes inhabited the birds have no chance of 
rearing their young, as the boys in the neighbour- 
hood ride into the marsh every morning to gather 
the eggs. The Gulls are, however, very tenacious 
of their old breeding-places, and continue even after 
years of persecution to resort to them. 
The young birds are of a pale grey colour, mottled 
with dull brown, and have a whining, querulous cry. 
The plumage becomes lighter, through the autumn 
and winter, but it is not until the ensuing summer, 
when the dark brown nuptial hood is assumed, that 
the young birds acquire the perfect plumage—soft 
grey-blue above, and the white bosom with its lovely 
pink blush. 
As soon as the young are able to fly the breeding- 
