118 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



non -breeding months. Note: a harsh croak or 

 laugh. Local and other names : Cob, Blackback, 

 Great Black and White Gull. Gregarious in some 

 parts and solitary in others. Not a close sitter, 

 but demonstrative when intruded upon. 



GULL, HERRING. 



Description of Parent Birds. Length about 

 twenty-four inches. Bill of medium length, hooked 

 at the tip, and yellow, with an orange spot on the 

 lower mandible. Irides pale yellow. Head and 

 neck white. Back and part of wings light grey, 

 which distinguishes the bird from the Lesser Black- 

 backed Gull ; quills blackish, tipped with white. 

 Breast, belly, vent, upper tail-coverts and tail-quills 

 pure white. Legs and feet flesh-colour. Variable 

 with age. 



The female is often much smaller than the male, 

 but is similar in the coloration of her plumage. 



Situation and Locality. Ledges of sea cliffs, 

 low rocky islands, sometimes in marshes, such as 

 Foulshaw Moss in Westmoreland. Our illustrations 

 are from photographs taken on the Fame Islands, 

 where the bird breeds in company with the Lesser 

 Black-backed Gull. The eggs represented in our 

 illustration are those of the bird sitting on her nest 

 in the centre of the group of gulls. It breeds in 

 all suitable localities round the coasts of England, 

 Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. 



Materials. Seaweed and turf, lined with grass, 

 sometimes in liberal quantities, at others very scant, 

 or absent altogether. The grass used appears to 

 have often been obtained quite green. 



Eggs. Two to three, varying in ground-colour 



