22 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



of an isolated rock stack, a little distance from 

 the mainland ; less frequently it selects a range of 

 high cliffs overhanging the sea. A small island 

 in a mountain loch is sometimes selected, and occa- 

 sionally this may be some considerable distance 

 inland. In a few chosen spots the birds nest in 

 such close, if somewhat scattered proximity, that 

 we might call it a colony, but the rule is for odd 

 and more or less isolated pairs to be met with, and 

 often at considerable distances apart. The fact 

 that this Gull may be found nesting in one chosen 

 spot year by year, warrants the supposition that it 

 may pair for life. The usually scanty nest is made 

 in a hollow amongst the short turf, or heath, or on 

 the flat ledge of a precipice. Sometimes the eggs 

 are laid in a bare hollow amongst the rocks. It is 

 formed of grass, dry sea- weed, twigs, and stalks of 

 marine plants, and occasionally a tuft of wool or a 

 few odd feathers are placed in the lining. The 

 eggs are usually three in number, but sometimes 

 only two, or even one. They are grayish-brown, 

 or brown sometimes tinged with olive in ground 

 colour, spotted with dark umber-brown and brownish- 

 gray. This Gull is a very light sitter, but is bold 

 and clamorous when disturbed from the nest. 



LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



Very similar in appearance, but much smaller in 

 size it is only about half the weight this pretty 

 Gull, the Larus fuscus of Linnaeus, is one of the 



