656 COMMON GULL. 



Mr. B. Grondal does not include it among the birds of Iceland ; 

 but it is numerous in Norway up to the North Cape, as well as in 

 Sweden, and in Northern and Central Russia. During the colder 

 months it occurs on the shores, lakes and rivers of the rest of 

 Europe down to the Mediterranean ; also on the African side of the 

 latter as far as the Suez Canal. In summer it inhabits Siberia 

 in Asia, where the birds are, as a rule, larger and darker on the 

 mantle than western examples ; while in winter it frequents the 

 Japanese and Chinese waters. In North America, from the Pacific 

 to Great Bear Lake, it is represented by a slightly smaller species, 

 L. brachyr/iynchus ; but throughout the rest of that continent we 

 find L. delawarensis, a rather larger bird, with a paler mantle and a 

 doubly zoned bill ; an immature example of L. cauus was, however, 

 obtained in Labrador on August 21st i860. 



Grassy islands and sides of lochs, or slopes facing the sea and often 

 not far above high-water, are favourite resorts of this species ; and 

 there it breeds in colonies, making a somewhat large nest of sea- 

 weeds, grass, heather &:c. The eggs, normally 3 in number, are 

 olive-brown in ground-colour, spotted and streaked with blackish ; 

 but pale blue, straw-coloured and light green varieties are not un- 

 common : average measurements 2*25 by i"5 in. As a rule this 

 Gull does not go far from land, and owing to its being one of the 

 first to seek the shore on the approach of coarse weather it has 

 been made the subject of many rhymes and poetical allusions. It 

 feeds on small fish, molluscs, crustaceans (S:c., and may frequently 

 be seen picking up grubs on the furrows in company with Rooks, 

 while it will sometimes eat grain. 



The adult in summer has the head, tail, and entire under parts 

 white ; mantle of a deeper grey than in any other medium-sized 

 species except the Kittiwake ; in the primaries, which are com- 

 paratively long, the three outer pairs are dull black on the lower 

 portions, with large white ' mirrors ' near the tips on the ist and 

 2nd and even on the 3rd in mature birds, while in the rest pale 

 grey predominates — the black merely forming a bar — and all except 

 the I St are broadly tipped with white; bill greenish at the base, 

 rich yellow towards the point; legs and feet greenish-yellow in 

 summer, darker in winter. Average length 18 '5 in. ; wing 14 in. In 

 winter the head and neck are streaked and spotted with ash-brown, 

 as shown in the illustration. In the young bird the primaries and 

 the broad tail-band are dark brown ; the under side of the wing 

 is mottled with brown, whereas in L. ridibundus it is greyish-white. 



