THE LITTLE GULL. 



267 



tion of the late Mr. Wilson of Coldingham, and which was 

 in similar plumage, was obtained at the same place." ^ 



This species is an irregular visitor to the shores of the 

 British Islands on migration and in winter. In summer it 

 feeds chiefly on insects, which it catches on the wing, and in 

 winter it picks up small marine creatures of various kinds 

 by the sea-shore. 



Like our own well-known Black-headed Gull, the Little 

 Gull nests in large colonies on lakes and marshes, its best- 

 known breeding quarters being near Lake Ladoga, in Eussia. 



1 Hist. Ber. Nat. Clvb., vol. viii. p. 522. 





