LITTLE GULL. 303 



remarks that he never found them with the ground-colour greyish white, 

 like the eggs of the Common Tern ; but in the series obtained for me by 

 M. Russovv there are Little GulFs eggs with the ground-colour pale. 

 Mr. J. E. Palmer informs me that in blowing several dozen eggs of the 

 Herring- Gull, obtained on Lambay Island, off the coast of co. Dublin, 

 all of which were perfectly fresh, he found that those eggs which had a 

 dark ground-colour had deep-coloured yolks, whilst those with a pale 

 ground-colour had pale yolks. It appears as if Meves had generalized 

 from too few facts, and that the colour of the yolk cannot be relied upon 

 as a distinguishing character. 



The nests of the Little Gull are described as placed very near to each 

 other, occasionally on the marshy banks of the lakes, but more usually on 

 the floating islands, which are enormous masses of living water-plants, 

 almost overwhelmed by many years' accumulations of decayed and decaying 

 vegetable matter. These islands rise and fall with the water, and are 

 admirably adapted for nesting- sites. Russow describes a colony built on 

 the solid ground on the margin of a lake, which was swamped by a flood, 

 in consequence of which the Little Gulls formed a new one a few hundred 

 yards away from the water, and, as if to provide against a similar catas- 

 trophe, had collected foundations of dead grass, about six inches high. 

 On the 7th of June he found the birds busily engaged in collecting 

 materials for their second nests, which contained full clutches of eggs on 

 the 16th of that month. The nests are built of sedge, dead reeds, and 

 grass, the finer portions being reserved for the lining. The usual number 

 of eggs is three, but two are occasionally found; and both Meves and 

 Russow state that sometimes four eggs were laid in one nest. They vary 

 in ground-colour from greyish buff to huffish brown and olive-brown. 

 The surface-spots are dark brown, sometimes approaching black, and the 

 underlying spots, which are generally very distinct (except on the eggs 

 having a dark ground-colour), are grey. The size of the spots varies from 

 that of a pea downwards; occasionally two or three of them are con- 

 fluent and form an irregular blotch, and in some instances streaks are 

 intermingled. They vary in length from 1'75 to 1-5 inch, and in breadth 

 from 1*22 to 1*18 inch. Both parents assist in the duties of incubation. 

 At their nests they fly round and round the head of an intruder, endea- 

 vouring to entice him away, sometimes retiring in a body to a distance, 

 but, if not followed, soon returning again to renew their efforts. 



The Little Gull, the smallest of all the Gulls, is about the size of a 

 Common Tern, but its wings and tail are much shorter. In addition to 

 the black head, the blackish under surface of the wings appears to show an 

 affinity to the Black Tern ; but as the latter character disappears in imma- 

 ture birds, it is probably not ancestral. The Little Gull, in full breeding- 

 plumage, has the entire head deep black ; the underparts, including the 



