420 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



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Phmkj If. f. figgall} [Liightcn Buxxard 



STONE-CURLEW, OR THICK-KNEE 



The plumage sc closely resembles the sandy soil on -which the bird lives that concealment is easily 

 effected by crouching close to the ground 



wheeling about over the lakes 

 in the parks. The black- 

 headed gullreceivesits popular 

 name on account of the fact 

 that, like some terns and 

 some other gulls, in the spring, 

 the feathers of the head sud- 

 denly 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 KiTTlWAKE 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 



t>) 



these inoffensive birds were destroyed during 

 the fortnight." 



ggott] [Ltighton j 



CURLEW 



& called on account of its note 



