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numbers. Her* natur* steps in to preserve the balance, and of 

 late years we have heard much of grouse disease, when numbers are 

 found dead upon the moors, through the ravages of some internal 

 parasite. The nest of the grouse is built in a clump of heather upon 

 the open moor, and contains from seven to ten eggs, of a pale buff 

 ground colour, which usually is almost entirely concealed by a rich 

 mottling of dark reddish brown spots and blotches. 



Guillemot The Guillemot is probably the most common of the 

 diving birds which visit our coasts each spring to breed. It is this 

 bird which, known as " The Ducker," is to be seen from March to 

 August at the mouths of our larger estuaries, and along such parts 

 of our coast-line as afford the rocky cliffs on which it rears its young. 

 It permits a comparatively near approach of boat or steamer, but 

 at the last moment shows a clean pair of heels ; disappearing below 

 the surface, to reappear after what seems to the observer a very long 

 time, in a possibly quite unexpected direction. The Guillemot lays 

 her egg on a rocky shelf high above the water, and without anything 

 in the shape of nest, and in this connection is seen one of the wonder- 

 ful provisions of nature tor the preservation of a species ; the egg, a 

 I ingle one, very large for the size of the bird, is possessed of a thick 

 shell, and while broad at the one end is much elongated, and runs to 



Suite a sharp point. This long pointed shape causes the egg when 

 isturbed, as by the hurried departure of the sitting bird, to roll round 

 in a circle, and it thus remains upon its ledge, which is often but a 

 narrow one. Were the egg round like that, say, of the owls, which 

 nest in holes, the species would in a comparatively short number of 

 years become extinct, unless, of course, the bird changed its habits 

 with regard to the site of its nesting place. The eggs of the 

 Guillemot vary in colour, being often of a dark blue, others 

 of a lighter blue, greeny blue, or creamy white, while a rare type is 

 of a dark claret colour, all being blotched with black markings. 



Gull, Black-headed This bird should really be called the Brown- 

 headed Gull, tb feathers of its head being dark brown, though in 

 contrast to the white of the rest of its plumage appearing black : or 

 better still, the Common Gull, as it is this bird which is most com- 

 monly to be seen of the Gull tribe. But this last name has been given 

 by ornithologists to " Larus canus," a comparatively rare bird which 

 is to be observed only on our remoter coasts, and out -lying isles, and 

 is not very plentiful even there. The Black-headed Gull is to be seen 

 on our tidal rivers, feeding at such points as where the sewage of our 

 towns enters, and in winter it haunts the neighbourhood of our riverside 

 towns, where it has become very tame of late years, frequenting at that 

 season even such busy places as the Thames Embankment, where it is 

 fed by the benevolent. In spring this bird resorts to marshy moors and 

 lochs, where it breeds, usually in colonies, making a nest of rushes 

 and grasses sufficiently high to raise its eggs clear of the water. The 

 eggs, two, three, or rarely four in number, are variable in colour ; 

 a common type is darkish green in ground-colour, spotted and 

 blotched with black and brown. This bird is a good friend to man, 

 and in spring and autumn may be seen following the plough, picking 

 up grubs and worms as they are upturned, and by the contrast of 

 the silver-white of its plumage against the dark earth ever providing 

 a pleasing picture. 



Gull, Kittiwake This charming sea bird derives its name from 

 the resemblance of its cry to the syllables " Kit-i-wake." It is a 

 summer visitor in large numbers to our coasts and islands, where it 

 netts usually in conjunction with Guillemots and Razorbills, but 



