HERRING GULL. 677 



in all probability, are passing from the east to the west 

 coast. 



At Masham, on 26th August 1889, a curious incident took 

 place, resulting in the capture of one of these birds, which 

 swooped down on a minnow used as a bait by a fisherman, 

 who successfully played and landed it (Field, 3ist August 

 1889). 



The local names are : Sea Mew, Sea Crow (Western 

 Ainsty), and Pet Maw (Redcar). 



HERRING GULL. 

 Larus argentatus (Gmelin). 



Resident, common ; nests on the sea-cliffs from Saltburn to 

 Bempton. 



The Cottonian MS. contains a quaint reference to " Hunt- 

 ley Nabbe " [Huntcliffe, near Saltburn], " where the coaste be- 

 ginnes to rise Highe, full of craggs and steepe Rockes, wherein 

 Meawes, pidgeons, and Sea-fowle breede plentifullye " (Cott. 

 MS. about 1604, pp. 20-21). The Meawes, doubtless, were 

 Herring Gulls, which still have a fairly large colony there, 

 and the quotation given may be taken as the first mention 

 of this as a Yorkshire bird. When Pennant visited Flam- 

 borough on 3rd July 1769, he observed Herring Gulls amongst 

 the multitudes of birds there (" A Tour in Scotland," 1771, 



P. 15). 



Thomas Allis, in 1844, wrote : 



Larus argentatus. Herring Gull Common on the coast ; obtained 

 about Barnsley ; rarely seen near Hebden Bridge ; the young frequently 

 met with about Sheffield. A. Strickland remarks that, " Though the 

 scientific names of the Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls have 

 till lately been in great confusion and uncertainty, the English names 

 have been perfectly explicit and correctly applied ever since they were 

 accurately defined ; but Mr. G. R. Gray of the British Museum has 

 lately done what is likely to revive all the confusion that formerly existed 

 about them by naming the specimens of the Lesser Black-backed Gull 



