102 
long and two inches and a quarter broad. In colour 
they are of a pale yellowish or greenish grey, 
spotted and blotched with blackish brown umber 
and pale purplish grey. 
GULL, | BER REN G: 
SILVERY GreY GuLL, WaGEL. 
Larus Fuscus, Lin. 
The Silvery, or Herring Gull, as it is also called, 
is nearly as large as the last-named species, and is 
by far the most numerous of our larger Gulls. 
Its flight is strong, buoyant, direct, and unwavering, 
when it is proceeding towards a distant place. 
When engaged with a shoal of fry, it hovers over 
the water, mounts upwards, vibrates its wings, 
touches the water lightly with its feet, and picks 
up its prey without alighting. During tem- 
pestuous weather it often flies inland. It breeds 
usually in great numbers on small unfrequented 
islands, or on remote rocky coasts, forming a 
bulky nest, and layine generally three eggs, 
averaging two inches and three quarters in length, 
an inch and a half in breadth, of various tints of 
grey or olivaceous brown, clouded or spotted with 
dark brow: sr purplish grey. 
