420 



The Living Animals of the World 



Photo by W. F. Piggotf] [Litton liv".n,-il. 



STONE-CURLEW, OR THICK-KNEE. 



The plumage so closely resembles the sandy soil on which the bird lives that concealment is 

 easily effected by crouching close to the ground. 



wheeling about ever the lakes 



in the parks. The black- 

 headed gull receives its popular 



name on account of the fact 



that, like some terns and 



some other gulls, in the spring, 



the feathers of the head 



suddenly acquire a sooty-black 



colour : all trace of this is 



lost in the winter, save for 



two patches, one behind each 



ear. 



The eggs of this bird are 



collected in thousands each 



spring, and sold in London 



and other markets as plovers' 



eggs. As many as 20,000 



have been taken in a season 



from the extensive gullery at 



Scoulton Mere, in Norfolk. 



Three or four eggs are laid in a nest of rushes, which is always placed on the ground in 



marshy and often inaccessible spots. 



The largest of the Gull Tribe is the GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL, which is, furthermore, a 



common British bird ; indeed, it is frequently seen flying, together with the last-mentioned species, 



on the Thames, doing its best to get a full share of the tit-bits thrown by interested spectators 



from the various London bridges. Unlike the black-headed gull, it has no seasonal change 



of plumage, but is clad all the year round in the purest white, set off by a mantle of bluish 



black. The young of this bird has a quite distinct plumage of greyish brown, and hence has been 



described as a distinct species the GREY GULL. 

 This dress is gradually changed for the adult 

 plumage, but the process takes about three years. 

 The KITTIWAKE is another of the common 

 British gulls, breeding in thousands in favourable 

 localities on the coasts. Its eggs are deposited 

 on the narrowest and most inaccessible ledges 

 of precipitous cliffs. This species sometimes 

 falls a victim to the fashion of wearing feathers. 

 "At Clovelly," writes Mr. Howard Saunders, 

 " there was a regular staff for preparing plumes ; 

 and fishing-smacks, with extra boats and crews, 

 used to commence their work of destruction at 

 Lundy Island by daybreak on the 1st of 

 August. ... In many cases the wings were 

 torn off the wounded birds before they were 

 dead, the mangled victims being tossed back 

 into the water." And he has seen, he con- 

 tinues, " hundreds of young birds dead or 

 dying of starvation in the nests, through the 

 want of their parents' care. ... It is well 

 within the mark to say that at least 9,000 of 

 these inoffensive birds were destroyed during 

 the fortnight." 



Photo by W. F. Piggotf] 



[Leighton Buzzard. 



CUKLEW. 

 So called on account of its note. 



