GULLS AND TERNS. 37 
and buffish- brown to brownish-olive, blotched 
and spotted with reddish-brown, paler brown, and 
gray. No words of mine can adequately describe 
the beauty and animation of a colony of Kittiwakes. 
Their cries are deafening, and when the frightened 
birds flutter from the cliffs, and pass to and fro in 
thousands like a living snowstorm, the effect, 
whether seen from the water or from the cliffs 
above is charming in the extreme. It is sad to 
think that such a spot should too often become a 
scene of slaughter. But such is the case ; the poor 
birds breeding too late fully to profit by the pro- 
tection afforded by law. Vast numbers of this 
pretty gentle Gull are killed yearly, for the sake of 
their plumage. Even when the breeding places 
are left, the poor birds are shot in thousands out at 
sea. The Kittiwake is the most trustful perhaps of 
the Gulls, and a flock will remain hovering round a 
boat until almost decimated by the gunners. The 
young Kittiwake is widely known along the coast 
under the name of ‘“ Tarrock.” 
BLACK-HEADED GULL. 
In most inland districts frequented by this Gull 
(the Larus ridibundus of Linneus) it is known as 
the “Peewit,” the ‘‘Peewit Gull,” or the ‘Laughing 
Gull.” It is not only one of the most widely 
distributed but one of the best known of our 
sea birds. And yet to describe the Black-headed 
Gull as a “‘sea” bird in the sense we have hitherto 
