captured. Their call-note, which is indistinguishable from that of the Lesser 

 Black-headed Gull, may be represented by the syllables ' Hdn-hdn-hdn' uttered 

 rather rapidly. The alarm-note is a guttural, ' Ker-yok', often repeated and 

 increasing in rapidity till it sounds like ' Eyok-eyok-eyok.' Like most of the 

 gulls, this bird will hurriedly eject the food from its stomach if fired at or 

 wounded, no doubt endeavouring to make itself as light as possible in its 

 efforts to escape. 



About the end of April the Herring Gulls return to their accustomed 

 breeding haunts and begin at once to prepare their nests ; these are often 

 large bulky structures of seaweed and tufts of grass, pulled up by the roots, 

 and are lined with pieces of sea-campion, fine grass, and a few straws and 

 large feathers. Sometimes very little nest is made, the eggs being laid in a 

 slight depression in the ground, lined only with a few bits of dry grass. 

 The Herring Gull is very fond of building its nest on the grassy ledges of 

 some cliff, but also frequents low grassy islands, or those where rocks and 

 grass alternate ; among rocks the nest is placed in any convenient crannie, and 

 is usually a bulky structure. A pair or two of these birds nearly always nest 

 in most of the colonies of Lesser Black-backed Gulls ; I found them nesting 

 among the benty sandhills on the Culbins on the summits of the knolls, in 

 company with several pairs of these birds. 



Eggs are laid early in May, and are usually three in number, but some- 

 times only two. They are, as a rule, quite indistinguishable from those of 

 the Lesser Black-backed Gull, but have a few varieties which do not occur 

 among the eggs of that species. The eggs vary much in size, shape, and 

 colour; the ground colour may be any shade from pale bluish green to almost 

 white, and from dark buffish brown to greyish buff. The surface-markings 

 are usually a rich dark brown, sometimes nearly black, and there are generally 

 a few brownish grey under-marks. Some specimens have only a few small 

 brownish specks on them, while others are covered closely all over with spots, 

 some of which are as large as a sixpence. I am not aware that the rare and 

 beautiful red variety, which occurs among the eggs of the Lesser Black- 

 backed Gull, has ever been met with among the eggs of the Herring Gull 

 in this country. The eggs of the Herring Gull are rather larger than those 

 of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, and vary in size from 3-1 to 2'8 inches 

 in length and from 2'i to r8 inches in breadth. 



When a colony is approached the Herring Gulls leave their nests long 

 before the intruder has approached, and circle above him with angry cries, 

 sometimes swooping down within a few inches of his head. When the young 



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