238 IN BIRD-LAND 



Some of these Gulls' nests are of an enormous 

 size, those on the margin of the reeds being 

 three times the dimension of others found on 

 firmer ground. One or two were built over deep 

 water, but were so solid that one could easily 



BLACK-HEADED GULL. 



stand on them without sinking many inches. 

 What an expenditure of time and labour must 

 be made by these birds before this stability can 

 be ensured ! Those nests built on solid foundations 

 were not much more than a few dried stalks of 

 reed-stems, with a hollow trodden into them in 



