508 NATATORES. LARUS. GULL. 



THE average size of this species exceeds that of the Glau- 

 cous Gull, although TEMMINCK has stated the latter to be 

 the largest of the genus. It is met with, but by no means 

 plentifully, upon most of our coasts ; usually alone, or in 

 pairs, and rarely in a flock of more than eight or ten toge- 

 Breeding ther. Its breeding stations are on the . Steep-holmes and 

 places, and L unc ly i s l an ds in the Bristol Channel, Souliskerry in the 

 Orkneys, the Bass Island in the Frith of Forth, and one or 

 two other stations upon the Scottish coast. Its eggs, three 

 or four in number, resemble those of the Herring and Lesser 

 Black-backed Gulls in colour and markings, but are larger. 

 This bird, like its congeners, is of a wary disposition, and 

 must be taken by surprise, as it rarely admits of a sufficiently 

 Food, near approach. It is of very voracious appetite, and preys 

 upon all kinds of animal substance that may happen to be 

 cast on shore. It also keeps a close watch upon the Lesser 

 Gulls, whom it drives from any food they may have disco- 

 vered, appropriating the whole to itself ; and MONTAGU men- 

 tions it as being a great enemy to the fishermen, as it will 

 sever and devour the largest fish from their hooks, if left dry 

 by the ebbing of the tide. Its flight is slow, but buoyant, 

 without much exertion of the pinions, and, like other species, 

 always opposed to the wind. Its voice is a strong and hoarse 

 cackle, that may be heard at a great distance, when the bird 

 is sailing in the air, and this is more frequently repeated 

 during the spring and breeding season than at any other 

 time. The young of this, and of the Herring and Lesser 

 Black-backed species, have all been confounded together un- 

 der the name of Wagel (or Grey) Gull ; the plumage of all 

 three being very much alike till they attain maturity. The 

 present species is common in many parts of the north of Eu- 

 rope, but does not appear to extend, at least in any consi- 

 derable numbers, to very high latitudes ; as Captain SABIXE, 

 in his Memoir of the Greenland Birds, states that it was only 

 once seen in Baffin's Bay, and Dr RICHARDSON never men- 

 tions it. 



5 



