578 



LARID^E. 



breeding-grounds and wander over the adjoining country 

 in search of food, which consists of worms and grubs. 

 From the assiduity with which they resort to arable land 

 and follow the plough, they have been called Sea Crows. 

 In April and May they make their simple preparations 

 for laying their eggs by trampling down the broken tops 

 of reeds and sedges, and so forming a slight concavity. 

 The number of eggs in each nest is generally three, and 



THE BLACK-HEADED GULL. 



as a large number of birds often resort to the same spot, 

 the collecting of these eggs becomes an occupation of 

 importance. By some persons they are considered a 

 delicacy, and, with the eggs of the Redshank, are substi- 

 tuted for Plover's eggs ; but to a fastidious palate they 

 are not acceptable, and far inferior to an egg from the 

 poultry yard. Willughby describes a colony of Black- 

 Caps on a small island in a marsh or fish pond, in the 



