596 LAIUD/E. 



" In the middle of this mere there is a boggy island of 

 seventy acres in extent, covered with reeds, and on which 

 there are some birch and willow trees. There is no river 

 communicating between the mere and the sea. This mere 

 has from time immemorial been a favourite breeding-spot 

 of the Brown-headed Gull. These birds begin to make 

 their appearance at Scoulton about the middle of February ; 

 and by the end of the first week in March the great 

 body of them have always arrived. They spread them- 

 selves over the neighbouring country to the distance of 

 several miles in search of food, following the plough as 

 regularly as Eooks ; and, from the great quantity of worms 

 and grubs which they devour, they render essential service 

 to the farmer. If the spring is mild, the Gulls begin to lay 

 about the middle of April ; but the month of May is the 

 time at which the eggs are found in the greatest abundance. 

 At this season a man and three boys find constant employ- 

 ment in collecting them, and they have sometimes gathered 

 upwards of a thousand in a day. These eggs are sold on 

 the spot at the rate of fourpence a score, and are regularly 

 sent in considerable quantities to the markets at Norwich 

 and Lynn. They are eaten cold like Lapwings' eggs, and 

 also used for culinary purposes ; but they are rather of an 

 inferior quality, and somewhat like Ducks' eggs in flavour. 

 The person who sells these eggs gives fifteen pounds a year 

 for the privilege of collecting them. This species of Gull 

 never lays more than three eggs the first time ; but, if these 

 are taken, it will lay again. We found many of the old 

 birds sitting in the^middle of June ; most of these had only 

 one egg in the nest, but a few of them had two. Their 

 nests are made of the tops of reeds and sedge, and are very 

 flat at the surface. The eggs vary so much in size, shape, 

 and colour, that a person not well acquainted with them 

 would suppose some of them to belong to a different species 

 of bird. Some are thickly covered with dusky spots, and 

 others are of a light blue colour without any spots at all. 

 The young birds leave the nest as soon as hatched and take 

 to the water. When they can fly well the old ones depart 





