23G THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



US, and in my experience this bird suffers more from 

 stress of weather and severe cold than any other of 

 its congeners ^\ith which I am acquainted. This 

 Gull breeds in large numbers in Scotland, and also 

 in Ireland ; but the editor of the 4th edition 

 of ' Yarrell ' states that during the twenty years 

 previous to the writing of his article on this species, 

 he had failed to obtain any proof whatever of its 

 nesting on any part of the English coast. The only 

 breeding-place of this Gull that has come under my 

 own observation was the boggy moor surrounding 

 a small freshwater lake ; the nests were built of twigs 

 and heather and coarse grass, and lined with dry 

 fragments of rushes ; the usual complement of eggs 

 is three. It appears that the Common Gull seldom, 

 if ever, nests on what can fairly be called cliffs, 

 preferring low shores and the grassy summits of 

 islands ; it has been known to nest in low trees and 

 bushes. In late autumn and winter this bird is to 

 be met with in abundance on almost every low-lying 

 coast district of our Islands, and very often frequents 

 arable lands, especially those on which refuse-fish 

 has been used as manure, but in common with all 

 other Gulls it is a greedy devourer of earth-worms, 

 slugs, and grubs of all kinds, and is most useful in a 

 kitchen-garden. On November 22, 1890, I had a 

 letter from a person at Woodford informing me that 

 he was in possession of a bird (recently captured 

 near that village) that he believed to be a " Sea 

 Egal," and enquiring if it had escaped from Lilford. 

 As no bird had been lost from our aviaries, and 

 the designation was somewhat mysterious, I tele- 

 graphed to request that the bird might be sent to 

 me, and in the afternoon of the day above-mentioned 



