678 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



as the Herring Gull and the Herring Gull as the Silvery Gull, a name 

 not known for it in any part of the country. In applying to Mr. Gray 

 why he had done so, he said it was upon the authority of Latham ; 

 now the truth is Linnaeus described the Lesser Black-backed Gull, 

 but did not describe the Herring Gull, but Latham described the 

 Herring Gull, but did not describe the Lesser Black-backed Gull, and 

 therefore cannot be quoted for the name of a bird he [did] not describe ; 

 I hope Mr. Gray will see the evil of this mistake." 



Another early allusion to the Herring Gull in Yorkshire 

 is found in Jesse's " Scenes of Country Life " (1844, p. 353), 

 which is highly interesting, as being the first notice of this 

 bird nesting in confinement. It relates to two Gulls of 

 different species which, contrary to their habits in a wild 

 state, interbred and nested in an enclosure at Wentworth 

 House, Yorkshire, and runs as follows : " The male was 

 a Black-backed Gull, and the female a Blue-backed Gull, 

 presumably the Herring Gull. One egg only was laid, on 

 which the two birds took it in turn to sit. The young bird 

 when hatched was covered with down, which changed to a 

 spotted grey." 



The Herring Gull is a common resident, nesting in large 

 numbers on the cliffs from Saltburn to Robin Hood's Bay ; 

 a few pairs breed at Peak and Ravenscar, and a single pair 

 has occupied a site in Burniston Bay, north of Scarborough, 

 since 1899. It is abundant on the Gristhorpe cliffs, between 

 Scarborough and Filey, where a hundred and eighty eggs 

 were taken on I3th May 1899, and seventy-six in one day in 

 May 1900 ; on the famous range of chalk cliffs south of Filey 

 it is not so plentiful as a breeding species, being driven away 

 by constant persecution, though one or two pairs returned 

 to nest in 1873 ; there was a nest at Bempton in 1876, and 

 odd pairs attempt to breed from year to year, but the 

 " dimmers " do not encourage this bird owing to the injury 

 it does to their trade by carrying off the Guillemots' eggs ; 

 it occasionally nests near the " Dor " and Danes' Dyke ; a 

 brood was reared there in 1900, and eggs were taken in 1902, 

 1904, 1905, and 1906, whilst in the year 1902 two nests were 

 found on the Speeton range. The chief colonies in the north 

 of the county are at Boulby, Staithes, Kettleness, and the 



