THE BLACK-HEADED GULL. 271 



annually resort thither to rear their young. They are 

 seldom disturbed. Large numbers of Wild Ducks, Water 

 Hens, Coots, Snipes, and Lapwings nest there ; Herons are 

 frequent visitors, and the Bittern is a tradition. In winter 

 the loch is the haunt of immense flocks of wild-fowl, includ- 

 ing the Wigeon, Teal, Wild Duck, Pochard, Golden-Eye, 

 and Goosander ; Wild Geese visit it, and Swans have been 

 occasionally seen and oftener heard. Whitrig Bog, on Lord 

 Polwarth's estate, is close at hand, and with the exception 

 of the Gulls it has always a share of the birds above 

 noted." 



During spring, when ploughing and sowing operations 

 are in progress, the Black-headed Gull is frequently seen in 

 the neighbourhood of its haunts, following the ploughmen 

 in large flocks to pick up any grubs and worms which may 

 be turned up. 



An' whan the year smiles, an' Lav'rocks sing, 



My man Jock an' me shall be doin' o't ; 

 He'll thrash, an' I'll toil on the fields in the spring, 



An' turn up the soil at the plowin' o't. 

 An' whan the wee flow'rets begin then to blaw, 



The Lav'rock, the Peasweep, an' skirling Pickmaw, 

 Shall hiss the bleak winter to Lapland awa, 



Then we'll ply the blythe hours at the sawin' o't. 1 



In the summer months the Black-headed Gull is often seen 

 frequenting the Tweed in small flocks, and it is also observed 

 on the Leader. Mr. Hardy, in his interesting account of a 

 meeting of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, which was 

 held at Ednam on the 30th of May 1883, says with refer- 

 ence to Birgham : " The celebrated historical haugh stretches 

 away in a spacious open plain bounded and encircled by 

 the broad Tweed, whose waters, flashing in the sunlight, are 

 skimmed by the Black-headed Gulls, engaged in the pursuit 

 of minnows or water insects, their lively forms finely relieved 



1 Poems, chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, by Andrew Scott, Bowden, 1811. 



