HERRING, GULL. 
90 
One, of which Mr. Thomas Willmot has written me word, 
was captured between Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire, on 
or about the 25th. of January, 1855. A few are seen in 
Northamptonshire most winters. In Worcestershire, one was 
shot towards the end of February, 1843, at Lower Wick, on 
the banks of the River Teme, near Worcester. The species 
is frequently observed in Oxfordshire. Parties of them oc¬ 
casionally visit the River Trent, in Derbyshire, for a few days. 
Two were believed by the Rev. Leonard Jenyns to have been 
shot at Overcote, near Swavesey, Cambridgeshire. 
It is a common Irish species, and frequents also the coast 
of Wales in abundance. It is extremely numerous in many 
parts of Orkney and Shetland. 
I have received several particulars respecting this species 
from John Dutton, Esq., R.N. He writes—‘The Herring 
Gull is exceedingly common on the coasts of Hampshire and 
in the Isle of Wight. They build in great numbers in 
Scratchell’s Bay, and in the cliffs under the Needles lighthouse. 
It is a fine sight to see them from the tops of those grand 
old cliffs, towering aloft in graceful circles, their beautiful 
snow-white necks contrasting finely with the blue of their 
backs. They build on the ledges of the cliffs, and frequently 
in the beds of samphire, which grows in abundance there.’ 
The Herring Gull, which is readily tamed to a certain 
extent, so far as to follow a gardener while digging, to pick 
up any dislodged insects, has been known to breed in con¬ 
finement, namely, near Fermoy, in the county of Cork, as 
recorded in the ‘Zoologist,’ page 1395; another pair at 
Walthamstow, for three successive years; also at Quig Hall, 
the seat of J. T. Martin, Esq., two eggs were laid, and one 
young bird reared: one kept in a garden made a great friend 
of a terrier dog. Montagu mentions one which thus lived in 
confinement for thirteen years. 
Mr. Hewitson gives the following, as communicated to him 
by the Rev. W. I). Fox:—‘At Colbourne, in the Isle of Wight, 
a Herring Gull made its escape about thirty years ago from 
a garden where he had been kept a prisoner. From that 
time, however, to the present, he has returned all but daily 
to visit the place of his former captivity, though at the 
distance of six or seven miles from that part of the coast 
where they resort. Here he is regularly fed, and is so tame 
with the man who has regularly attended to his wants, that 
he would eat out of his hand, but will not allow any further 
