§8 EGGS AND EGG-COLLECTING. 
RICHARDSON’S SKUA. 
Tue islands lying to the West and North of Scotland, also 
parts of the far north of the mainland, are chosen by this 
Skua for its breeding quarters. The nest is simply a 
slight hollow, sparingly lined with a few bits of withered 
grass, and is situated on wild, unfrequented moors and 
bog-land. The eggs number two, but upon occasion one 
only is found, and sometimes as many as three. They vary 
from olive-green to reddish-brown in ground colour, 
spotted and blotched with blackish-brown and lght grey. 
I have seen them harmonise so closely with their surround- — 
ines that I had a great difficulty in finding them, though 
I had marked the whereabouts of the nest within a few feet 
through my binoculars. 
THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 
Low rocky islands are the favourite breeding places of 
this Gull, and they are now particularly numerous at 
the Farne Islands, where I have seen the eggs lying about 
so thickly that the visitor had to exercise great care to 
avoid treading upon them. Sometimes quite a large 
quantity of seaweed is used in making the nest, at others a 
few bits of grass and roots, and in some cases, where bare 
peat earth is available, simply a hollow is scratched out. 
The eggs as a rule number three, but sometimes only two 
are met with. I have seen it stated that the bird occa- 
sionally lays four, but out of the hundreds of nests I have 
examined I have never had the luck to see that number. 
In coloration they vary from pale greyish-green to reddish- 
brown, blotched and spotted with blackish- and greyish- 
