40 BRITISH: SEABIRDS. 
masses of the previous year’s decayed aquatic 
vegetation, or on the flat, spongy, moss-covered 
ground. Odd nests are occasionally made in the 
trees and bushes, or even on boat-houses. Many 
of the nests can only be described as mere rounded 
hollows in the cushions of grass or sedge; the more 
elaborate structures are usually in the wettest 
situations, and these latter are often added to as 
incubation advances, either to replace the wear and 
tear from the incessant wash of the water, or to 
provide a sufficiently large platform on which the 
young may rest. The nests are made of bits of 
reed and rush, coarse grass, flags, and scraps of 
moss, lined with finer materials of similar descrip- 
tion. The eggs of this Gull are usually three in 
number, sometimes four. They are subject to much 
variation, ranging from rich brown to pale bluish- 
green in ground colour, spotted, blotched, blurred, 
and streaked with several shades of brown and 
gray. Large numbers of these eggs are gathered 
for culinary purposes, the crop being systematically 
taken, and the birds always allowed eventually to 
sit upon their final clutch. Many of these eggs are 
passed off for those of the Peewit by unscrupulous 
dealers, notably in Leadenhall market. Few scenes 
in the bird world are prettier than a colony of 
Black-headed Gulls. When disturbed at their nests 
the birds rise in fluttering crowds, drifting noisily to 
and fro, anxious for the safety of their eggs or 
helpless young. As is the invariable rule with 
