486 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



up morsels of food which it finds floating on the stream. I have 

 seen numbers of these splendid birds every year on the Clyde in 

 the heart of the city of Glasgow, circling in their beautiful flight 

 above the river between the bridges, and also in the most 

 bustling part of the harbour crowded with ships and steam vessels. 

 Undisturbed by the noise and busy tumult surrounding their 

 haunts, these gulls soared gracefully over the shipping, descending 

 at times to the water as they found a clear space, and tapping the 

 surface with their feet for an instant, as if afraid to touch the 

 polluted river. After picking up any bit of floating garbage 

 which had attracted their attention, they rose at once to the same 

 height, performing their evolutions as before. 



The Lesser Black-backed Gull of the west coast inhabits all the 

 breeding places frequented by the great black-backed gull and the 

 next species, but it is likewise found in equal, if not greater, 

 numbers in fresh water lakes occupying low-lying and heath-clad 

 islets, where it frequently associates with terns and tarrocks, 

 although the nests are all by themselves on rougher ground than 

 that selected by the birds of lesser size. On Inchrnoin in Loch 

 Lomond I have studied their habits for many years in succession, 

 and have repeatedly visited their nests during the breeding season. 

 The nests there are almost invariably placed in thick bushes of 

 heather, although an occasional one is found in a tuft of rushes or 

 coarse herbage; the structure is somewhat bulky and is formed of 

 grass and mosses; and the eggs, three in number, are very variable 

 both in form and colouring. 



In the Outer Hebrides this gull is very common, and breeds on 

 many of the islands there. In autumn there is a considerable 

 accession to its numbers by arrivals from St. Kilda and other out- 

 lying stations. It also abounds on some of the inner group of 

 islands, and on Ailsa Craig, where it makes itself obnoxious to the 

 other birds by destroying immense quantities of their eggs. I have 

 picked up great numbers of guillemots' and razor bills' eggs at the 

 foot of the cliffs, with holes pierced in the side and wholly emptied 

 of their contents. Some of these were so little injured as to serve 

 for tolerably fair cabinet specimens when laid with the hole 

 downwards. 



