Wanderings of a Naturalist 



On one occasion she picked up a small stone a few yards 

 from the nest, carrying it to beside the latter, when she 

 dropped it. During the time she was brooding the cock stood 

 on guard on a rock near, and whenever a gull flew past 

 croaked a challenge with neck fully outstretched and head 

 depressed. The bird on the nest on one occasion called also — 

 possibly it was the cock that was brooding at this moment, 

 for it was impossible to distinguish them. 



A few weeks previously I had been photographing a par- 

 ticularly nervous golden plover on her nest, and I could not 

 help being impressed by the contrast in the behaviour of the 

 two birds.* The golden plover, during the week I was daily 

 in the hiding-tent, never became used to the slight noise of 

 the shutter, and invariably flew into the air as if shot when 

 this was released. The greater black back, however, even the 

 first time the shutter was fired, betrayed no alarm, merely 

 gazing at the hide in an inquiring manner. The hot sun 

 shining full on the nest troubled her a good deal, and she 

 gasped and panted so that drops of saliva formed at the end 

 of her bill and dripped in a steady stream to the ground. 

 The red blotch on the lower mandible was extremely con- 

 spicuous on these occasions. This bright red mark is found 

 on the bills of, I believe, all the family of gulls with the 

 exception of the common gull, and it would be interesting 

 to know what, if any, function it performs. 



A close view of a greater black back is something of 

 a shock. On the wing she is, by her wonderful powers 

 of flight, one of the grandest of birds, but watch her from 

 a distance of six feet or so, and then her, or his, criminal look 

 becomes only too evident. The low forehead, with little in- 

 telligence or expression, the evil callous countenance, the 

 cold, murderous eye, the singular lack of affection toward the 

 newly-hatched young — there is nothing to admire here. One 

 can easily credit these bird-Bolsheviks with swallowing unsus- 

 pecting puffins and shearwaters, as they have been seen to do. 

 * See Chapter VI, p. 25. 

 98 



