THE LITTLE GULL. 



and the under wing-coverts to dark grey. This dark under side to the wings the 

 sign of maturity is attained in about their second autumn. It is not, however, 

 till the third spring that, as a rule, the Little Gull puts on its first nuptial 

 dress. Early in the year the pearly feathers of the neck become black. "This 

 black colour," according to Gatke, " first makes its appearance on the shaft of 

 each feather, and then spreads in the form of a fine black dust over the remainder 

 of its surface. In the feathers of the under side of the head, the fore-neck and 

 sides of the neck, which in the winter are pure white, the alteration of colour 

 commences at the external tips of the bands of each feather, the deep pure black 

 colour appearing there in the form of fine specks, which at first form a fine black 

 edge around the tip of the feather, and finally overspreads its whole surface. This 

 alteration of colour, from perfectly pure white to deepest black, commences simul- 

 taneously at the lower border of what is subsequently the black marking, and 

 gradually extends upwards, so that in the end the part known as the chin is the 

 only spot where the white colour is still apparent." Then after breeding it changes 

 into its first winter garb, in which the rich black hood is entirely lost, the head 

 becoming white with a few patches of blackish-brown, especially marked on the 

 ear-coverts ; the breast shows a pinkish flush on the white ; the bill, legs and 

 feet are less brilliant. 



Both in their spring and in their autumn migration Little Gulls are to be 

 seen in many parts of the continent in large flocks, such as Mr. Huddleston has 

 described, as observed by him in the Dobrudscha, where they were frequenting a 

 lake of fresh water. The flocks of Larus minutus, which were associated with 

 Sterna cantiaca, were " literally swarming in the air a few feet above the surface 

 of the water, like Swallows over a river on a summer's evening. Far as the eye 

 could reach, looking northward down the lake, these elegant little birds were to 



be seen on the feed, dashing to and fro most actively In the distance 



they looked like mosquitoes over the water, the flocks probably extending to the 

 furthest end of the lake, which cannot be less than eight or ten miles off . . . . 

 A few days later the thousands had become hundreds ; yet a few days more and 

 these will have dwindled down to tens ; so that by the middle of May it is 

 possible that not a pair will remain behind." 



The habits and flight of the Little Gull are not unlike those of Terns ; 

 it frequents marshes and inland fresh waters, and hawks for insects dragon-flies, 

 May-flies, etc. catching them on the wing. 



" All the Gulls," writes Gatke, " leave their northern breeding stations before 

 the approach of winter, to betake themselves to more temperate latitudes. In the 

 case of none, however, does this movement so much partake of the nature of a 



