OVER THE BROADS AND SWAMPS. 199 



in our islands during its spring and autumn 

 migrations, although it occurs in winter too. 



A ramble over the Broads is a fitting oppor- 

 tunity to glance at the breeding habits of the 

 BLACK-HEADED GULL (Larus ridibundus), This widely 

 exquisitely beautiful bird, readily identified in %"% 



* t_ 11111 \ 11 i Ireland 



spring by its sooty black nead, and at all seasons and scot- 



U 1 J 1 J r J1_- land, and 



by its coral red legs and feet and white primaries, England 



J J J 1- U J north of 



tipped and margined on the inner web, and York, 

 generally on the outer web with black, is one 

 of the most gregarious of the Gulls, and returns 

 yearly to certain favoured spots to rear its young. 

 It is also the most inland species of the Gull 

 tribe, and may be seen in the fields like Rooks, 

 following the plough or even perched on the 

 trees in the hedges near. It is an early breeder, 

 returning to the usual nesting-grounds at the 

 beginning of April, and the eggs are laid during 

 the latter part of that month and the first half 

 of May. A marshy piece of ground, even if 

 fairly well timbered, or a low island in the centre 

 of a pool, is a favourite situation. Many of 

 the nests are little more than hollows amongst 

 the herbage, but others are better made of 

 withered, broken reeds and rushes, and coarse 

 grass. The eggs are three or four in number, 

 and vary considerably in colour, ranging from 

 rich brown to pale bluish green in ground, spotted 

 and blotched with different shades of darker 

 brown and gray. Vast numbers of the eggs 

 are taken for food from most of the important 

 gulleries, the poor birds patiently submitting 

 to repeated loss. It is absolutely impossible to 

 convey even a faint idea of the stirring scenes 



