GULLS AND) TERNS: 27 
a brood from a second clutch at the Farnes, and 
most rigorously protected whilst doing so. 
HERRING-GULL. 
Of all the gulls that frequent the British coasts, 
this, the well-known Larus argentatus (z.e. ‘ silver- 
winged”), is certainly the most common and widely 
dispersed. It is no exaggeration to say that the 
Herring-Gull may be met with on every part of 
the British coasts, from the Orkney and Shetland 
Islands on the north, to Cornwall and the Scilly 
Islands in the south; from the Blasquets in the 
wild west of Ireland, to the mouth of the Thames 
and the Bass Rock in the east. It is the Gull par 
excellence associated in the popular mind with the 
sea shore—the ‘‘Sea Gull” of the visitor to marine 
resorts, ubiquitous, well-known from the Land’s 
End to John-o’-Groat’s. For its size, it is certainly 
the tamest and least suspecting Gull found on 
British waters. It may be readily recognised, 
when adult, by the pale grey colour of its mantle, 
but the young and immature birds are less easily 
identified. During the non-breeding season it 
wanders far and wide like the rest of its kind, and 
is a very frequent visitor to the fields, not only 
adjoining the sea, but at some distance inland. 
Whilst tilling operations are in progress, especially 
in spring, it passes regularly from the coast to 
the fields, following the plough, or collecting upon 
the newly-manured pastures, in quest of food. 
