THE BLACKHEADED-GULL 145 



U, tt, trrr, but of this I am not certain. It is often interspersed with 

 qwarrr sound, and appears to be a general note of alarm, possibly a 

 call-note. It may be heard punctuating the general chorus. It is 

 probably this note that is supposed to resemble a laugh. Another 

 note familiar to those who have watched blackheads in winter, 

 whether from the Thames Embankment or on the coast, is a petulant 

 little infantile scream, uttered usually when the birds are bickering. 

 I have never heard it on the breeding-ground. 



The boldness of the blackheads when they have eggs or young is 

 in strong contrast to their shyness at the beginning of the season, 

 when an incautious approach to the gullery will send them off into 

 the air for an hour or more. Such at least was my experience at 

 Scoulton early in April (1911). At this period the hens, for such I 

 supposed them to be, were, as already noted, in occupation of the 

 sites of their future nests, and there they appeared to remain 

 throughout the day, waiting apparently for the first impulses of the 

 nest-building instinct. The cocks busied themselves in searching 

 for food in the neighbouring fields. As they often went several 

 miles for this, there is nothing astonishing in the fact that they did 

 not, after the manner of Thrushes, bring back a mere beakful of 

 worms or insects. They brought back a large supply, and carried it 

 inside. On reaching the gullery they alighted near their mates, and 

 after some persuasive cosseting of the neck and beak, were induced 

 to disburden. Most of the meal was pecked up from the ground by 

 the hen, but the cock often fed with her side by side. 



According to Naumann, the nest is built by both sexes. At 

 Scoulton I had time to see only two instances of nest-building, the 

 earliest (April 12-13). In both cases the work was done by one bird, 

 presumably the hen. In the first instance the male was absent, in 

 the second he was present, but took no interest in the proceedings. 

 As the cock is absent most of the time in the fields, it is difficult to 

 believe that he can take much part in building, if he takes any. The 

 process of building was simple. The hen pulled water-plants, carried 



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