162 THE GULLS 



bable. It may be that, like the lesser blackback, they introduce into 

 it more than one kind of note. 



Little is recorded of the way in which these gulls build their 

 nests. Herring-gulls have been seen to use their feet to make 

 preliminary scrapes, and their breasts to shape the nest. 1 A lesser 

 blackback kept in captivity by Saxby used regularly to scrape out a 

 rude sort of nest, and sit perseveringly in it for weeks. But eggs 

 were of greater interest to her as articles of diet than for purposes of 

 incubation, and if any were introduced while she was absent, she 

 would, on her return, break them open with her bill and swallow 

 most of the contents. 2 



The material of the nest, which is dropped on to the chosen spot 

 and shaped into an untidy couch, varies from place to place, 

 according to what is available in the neighbourhood. Among the 

 kinds of material used are twigs, seaweed, grass, heather, sea-campion, 

 rushes, feathers, moss, and thrift. The amount of material used 

 varies greatly from nest to nest. Some birds content themselves with 

 the scantiest lining, others make bulky structures. Lord Lilford 

 noted that nests of the great blackbacked seen by him on the 

 Scillies were accumulations of several years, and were composed of 

 piles of withered marram and other grasses with a few sticks and 

 some fragments of rabbit-skin. 3 



There is, as in the case of the blackheaded species, some evidence 

 to show that the work of nest-building is performed by the female 

 only, but nothing definite can be said. 4 Laying begins in May. The 

 male common-gull shares in incubation, 5 and as the males of the 

 other species are provided with brooding spots, it may be assumed 

 that they do likewise. 



The chicks appear to quit the nest almost as soon as they 

 can toddle away. According to the observations of Mr. C. J. King 



1 O. Leege, Vogel der frieaischen Inseln, 1905 ; Saxby, Birds of Shetland, p. 340. 



2 Ibid., p. 337. 3 Birds of Northamptonshire, ii. 259. 

 1 E. Selous, Bird Watching, p. 104. 



6 C. Rubow, Life of the Common-gull (pages unnumbered). 



