PLATE II 

 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. Larus fuscus 



May lo/A, 1893. This Plate was taken from a nest on Flanders Moss in the 

 valley of the Forth. The Lesser Black-backed Gulls choose a dry part of the 

 moor for their colony, which is somewhat scattered, placing their nests among 

 the long heather and dwarf bog-myrtle some distance from the large colony 

 of Black-headed Gulls, who seem to prefer the lower and more swampy part of 

 the moor. The nests were usually placed on some bare patch beside a large 

 tuft of heather or bog-myrtle, and were somewhat bulky structures of soft moss 

 and small bits of dead grass. 



The birds were very aggressive while I was at the colony, continually 

 swooping down at my head, often almost striking me, and I could always 

 feel the wind from their wings as they rushed past me. I once actually 

 struck one with my stick as he swooped past. He was quite as astonished 

 as I was, and did not repeat the experiment, keeping at a respectful distance 

 during the rest of my visit. Often when I was examining a nest, the owner 

 would eject a fish or two from its stomach in a vain attempt to scream loud 

 enough to drive me away. Some of these fish must have weighed nearly 

 five ounces, and were generally half digested, having little or no skin on 

 them. 



This colony has steadily increased in spite of all the keepers can do 

 in shooting and trapping them and destroying the eggs and young. They 

 are not at all a desirable adjunct to a grouse moor, as they destroy many 

 eggs and probably young birds too, being quite as cunning as the Hooded 

 Crow and much more rapacious. 



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