COMMON GULL 423 
is not by any means refused, while worms and grubs are 
obtained in the fields. In captivity the bird will eat practi- 
cally anything. 
Votce.-—The voice is much less wailing than that of most 
other Gulls. The note is short, sharp, one-syllabled, and 
sounds like yak-yak, or yak-kak. 
Nest.—The Common Gull is gregarious in the nesting- 
season, and some colonies are composed of considerable 
numbers.' In many localities the nests are placed apart 
from those of other sea-fowl. 
In July, 1898, I found three nests on a small island in 
a fresh-water lake near Castlebar, co. Mayo. The materials 
used for building were for the most part withered grasses, 
and the nests were rather conspicuous, being situated among 
the tops of bare rocks. Sometimes the birds build among 
loose stones along the fringe of islands, or amid heather or 
grass on the slopes of sea-cliffs. In maritime situations 
seaweed is often added as a building constituent. 
» The eggs, normally three to the clutch, vary in ground- 
colour from greenish-brown to lhght straw, some being of 
arather pale bluish shade; they are blotched and streaked 
with brownish-black. 
Incubation begins about the month of May. In certain 
districts the eggs are collected for culinary purposes. 
Along the coast and lochs. of the northern section of 
Scotland (including the Western Island-Groups, the Orkneys, 
and Shetlands), this Gull nests in no small numbers. 
In Ireland, the breeding-haunts seem limited to 
the counties of Sligo (where Mr. Warren found the bird 
nesting in 1855), Mayo, Galway, Donegal, and Kerry. In 
addition, there are marine settlements on a few islands off 
the west coast. 
Geographical distribution.—Abroad, the Common Gull 
is plentifully distributed in the breeding-season in Northern 
and Central Russia, Scandinavia, and other parts of Europe, 
but is rare in Iceland. In autumn and winter it migrates 
over the European Continent, crossing the Mediterranean 
to North Africa, and eastward to the Temperate regions of 
Western Asia. 
‘Mr. Ussher mentions a maritime breeding-haunt, numbering about 
a hundred nests, on the north coast of Donegal. Among the breeding- 
resorts which I have had occasion to visit, that on the Blasket Island 
is particularly interesting owing to its isolated position, and from the 
fact that it is the most southern in Europe. 
