428 



Herring-Gull begins like ee-dw, ee-dw, and presently changes 

 into ea-ea-ed-ea, or clee-o, clee-o, clea-clea-ea-ea-ea-ed. The 

 immature birds utter a prolonged squeak. 



Nest. This is one of the most abundant and widely- 

 distributed breeding-species round the British coast. It 

 assembles in great colonies, but the nests, as a rule, are 

 not in very close proximity, like those of Black-headed 

 or Kittiwake Gulls. The breeding-haunts are on rocky 

 and broken ground, in situations difficult of access, as where 

 a talus occurs midway up the sea-cliffs, or on the sides and 

 tops of precipitous marine islands, but less frequently on 

 narrow ledges ; a very minor number of birds select in- 

 land marshes, while abroad they have been found building 

 in trees. The nests are usually surrounded by scanty vege- 

 tation, such as grasses and tufts of thrift, which are also 

 utilised as building-materials: The eggs, normally three 

 in number, vary in ground-colour from olive to yellowish- 

 brown, sometimes to greenish-blue, and are blotched with 

 dark brown. Incubation begins about the middle of May. 



The young, while still in the downy stage, quit their 

 nests and seek shelter among crevices and herbage. 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, the Herring-Gull is 

 widely distributed in the breeding-season over Temperate 

 and Northern Europe to the west of the White Sea, also 

 over North America from the Arctic Kegions to lat. 40 N. 

 In autumn and winter it can be traced along the western 

 sea-board of Europe down to the Mediterranean ; eastward, 

 to the Black and Caspian Seas. Along the American coasts 

 it migrates as far south as the Bermudas on the Atlantic 

 side, and California on the Pacific side. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. 1 Head, neck, breast, 

 abdomen, and tail, white ; back and wings, pale ' french ' 

 grey ; scapulars and secondaries, broadly tipped with white ; 

 outer primaries, chiefly black with white tips, large white 

 ' eyes,' and pale grey inner webs ; other primaries, chiefly 

 grey with white tips. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar in plumage to the male. 



1 I have seen Herring-Gulls in captivity retain their adult nuptial 

 dress throughout the entire winter. 



