NESTING-SERIES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 45 



No. 119. GREATER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



(Larus marinus.) 



This rapacious Gull, the largest of our resident species, is to be met 

 with at all seasons on the British coasts. It breeds in small numbers 

 on the south and west coasts of England and in Wales, but is common 

 in many parts of Scotland and Ireland, either in solitary pairs or in small 

 colonies. It feeds largely on animal food, attacking sickly sheep and 

 lambs, and devouring the eggs and young of game-birds and water- 

 fowl, as well as carrion. On account of its predatory habits, large num- 

 bers are annually destroyed. The roughly constructed nest, made of 

 seaweed, dry grass, etc., is usually situated on some isolated stack of 

 rock or an islet in some secluded mountain-loch. The eggs, two or 

 three in number, are brownish-buff, blotched and spotted with umber 

 and dark grey. 



Sutherlandshire, May. 



Presented by Colonel L. H. Irby §■ Captain S. G. Reid. 



No. 120. COMMON GULL. (Larus canus.) 

 During the colder months of the year this species is generally distri- 

 buted along the coasts of the British Islands and is frequently seen inland, 

 but in April the majority of adults move northwards. It is hardly 

 known to nest in England or Wales, but it has been recorded as breeding 

 on the Cumberland side of the Solvvay Firth. In Scotland and the 

 adjacent islands, as well as in parts of Ireland, large breeding-colonies 

 are numerous. Open moors, the islands in both salt- and fresh-water 

 lochs, and the less precipitous coasts, are the favourite breeding-places. 

 When at sea, this Gull feeds on small fish, etc., but inland it is fre- 

 quently to be seen following the plough in search of worms and grubs, 

 or hawking insects on the wing. The somewhat large nest is made of 

 any convenient materials, such as grass, heather, or seaweed. The 

 eggs, usually three in number, are laid early in May, and vary greatly 

 in colour, but are generally olive-brown spotted with dark brown. 

 Island of Mousa, Shetlands, June. 

 Presented by E. M. Nelson, Esq. 



No. 121. LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



(Larus fuscus). 



Though common on all the coasts of the British Islands during the 

 greater part of the year, this species is somewhat local in its distribution 

 during the breeding-season, when large numbers congregate on moors, 

 turf-clad slopes, or flat-topped islands, in preference to the ledges of 

 cliffs. Being almost omnivorous and especially partial to the eggs and 



