GAVIM. ( 285 ) LARIDM. 



THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



YELLOW-FOOTED GULL. 



Larus fuscus. 

 %\z (Bull a^aVD. 



As wave meets -wave within some rocky bay. 

 When varying currents hold their whiten' d way ; 

 When the shrill sea-mew with unwearied cries, 

 Skimming the sea with restless pinion, flies ; 

 When deep'ning clouds foretell the wintry gale, 

 And the gaunt mariner clews up the sail. 



Scape's King Coal's Levee, p. 35. 



This species is seen in small numbers on the coast of Ber- 

 wickshire at all seasons of the year, and a few pairs breed 

 on the Cleaver Kock, Foul Carr, and other precipices about 

 St. Abb's Head in company with the Herring Gull. It 

 occasionally visits the Tweed and the Whitadder ^ in winter 

 and spring. It feeds chiefly upon small fishes and dead 

 animals thrown on shore by the tide. 



The nest is made of dry grass, and contains two or three 

 eggs, which vary in colour from yellowish-grey to olive- 

 brown, with spots of purplish-grey and dark-brown. 



The feet of this Gull are yellow ; hence the proverb : 

 " As yellow as a gull's fit." 



1 On the 4th of April 1887 I observed a pair of Lesser Black -backed Gulls sitting 

 on the gravel at the junction of the Dye and the Whitadder. 



