170 THE BIRDS OF CUMBERLAND. 



L. Argentaius. Herring Gull. 



The Herring Gull is an abundant resident, but 

 only nests in a single district, upon the high cliffs 

 at St. Bees. Between three and four hundred 

 yards of cliff are occupied by the birds of this 

 colony, which, if disturbed when sitting, fill the 

 air in a white cloud, in which we have detected 

 birds in a transitional state, not having fully as- 

 sumed the lavender mantle of the adult, although 

 presumably paired birds. The nest varies in size, 

 and is placed upon a grassy ledge, the eggs, 

 generally three in number, being laid during May, 

 chiefly at the beginning of the month. The young, 

 which are adepts at eluding observation by squatting, 

 are clothed with grey down, mottled with black. 

 During autumn and winter, with us, the immature 

 birds are chiefly solitary, but their gregariousness 

 or the contrary depends chiefly upon the relative 

 abundance of food. 



The Herring Gull frequents our rivers and 

 feeds in inland meadows in stormy weather. Large 

 " mobs" of immature birds may be observed in the 

 immediate vicinity of the breeding colony at St. 

 Bees throughout the summer. 



In Westmorland, a colony of Herring Gulls 

 exists at Foulshaw moss, near Arnside, abandoning 

 their love for a precipitous cliff or an isolated 

 stack, and nesting in great numbers on low marshy 

 grounds. When Mr. W. A. Durnford visited this 

 colony in May, 1879, he remarked (Zool., 1879, 

 p. 339), that the Lesser Black-backed Gulls, which 



