CHAPTER XXI 



A FEATHERED CRIMINAL': THE GREATER BLACK-BACKED GULL 



ON a small Inner Hebridean island a colony of about 

 thirty pairs of greater black-backed gulls nest. Unlike 

 most of the bird population of the island, which travels 

 south at the coming of autumn, these large gulls remain 

 throughout the year on, or near to, the island of their nesting 

 — for I think that of all the tribe of the gulls, they are the 

 most sedentary in their habits. 



During the first fortnight of July, 1919, a companion and 

 I made our camp on this uninhabited island, and had good 

 opportunities of studying the life of the gulls. 



On the island two colonies of greater black backs nested. 

 One was at the extreme westerly point where, on some level, 

 grassy ground, perhaps ten pairs had their home. The larger 

 colony, however, was on the terraces of a grassy hill near 

 the centre of the island, where about twenty pairs were 

 nesting. 



Although the island is uninhabited, frequent visits are 

 paid to it during fine weather by the fishermen of the neigh- 

 bourhood; indeed, most of the eggs of the first layings are 

 probably taken for food. This would seem to be the only 

 explanation of the fact that as late as the first week of July 

 very few young gulls were to be seen, and a number of the 

 nests vStill contained eggs. But quite a large proportion of the 

 greater black backs seemed to have had their second layings 

 robbed as well as the first, as, at the time of our visit, these 

 gulls were not nesting, nor had they any full-grown young 

 to tend. 



About the open spaces of the Atlantic a breeze from some 



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