37 



three recently hatched chicks are shown near the log of wood, and the 

 colour of down harmonizes so well with the colour surroundings that 

 they are not seen without careful looking. 



RINGED PLOVER {.^gialitis hiaticola). 



There appear to be two races of Ringed Plover. The larger race, 

 sometimes called the Ringed Dotterel, is more or less resident and 

 inhabits the flat sandy portions of our coast. The smaller race visits 

 our shores for a brief period in spring. The four eggs are laid in a 

 hollow in the ground often lined with fragments of shell. They are 

 pale buff or stone-colour spotted with black or grey (see British Bird 

 Egg Cabinet, drawer 20). Two broods are usually reared in a season. 

 Here again the eggs and young so closely resemble their surroundings 

 that they are difficult to find. 



Case 203. 



BLACK-HEADED GULL {Lams ridibmidus). 

 Local names : Chir-maw, Cockle Maw, Laughing Gull. 



A common resident, abundant on our inland waters in great and 

 increasing numbers. This Gull is a useful friend to the farmer, feeding 

 on grubs and other injurious insects. In spring it resorts to the 

 breeding places, where it congregates in large numbers. The 

 " galleries " as they are called, are found in marshy localities or on 

 inland lakes, and are resorted to year after year. The nest, made of 

 sedge, flags, etc., is placed on the ground or on clumps of rushes. The 

 eggs, three or four in number, varying greatly in colour markings 

 (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 22), are laid towards the end of 

 April, and in many places are collected for the market. 



Case 204. 



LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL {Larus fuscus). 



A resident, common on all the coasts of the British Islands during 

 the greater part of the year, but somewhat local in its distribution 

 during the breeding season, when large numbers congregate on moors, 

 turf-clad slopes, or flat-topped islands. Being almost omnivorous, and 

 especially partial to the eggs and young of game-birds and water-fowl, 

 it is constantly destroyed by gamekeepers. The nest is made of grass, 

 dry seaweed, etc., and three eggs are laid early in May, and vary 

 greatly in colour and markings (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 

 23). In Lancashire, the nesting places are confined to small colonies, 

 " on the low grounds near the estuary of the Kent " (Mitchell, " Birds 

 of Lancashire," p. 250) ; also on Walney Island and Foulshaw Moss, 

 near Morecambe Bay. 



