BIRD-LIFE UPON THE CLIFFS. 2O9 



Razorbills are said to do so, but we have 

 no direct evidence to confirm the statement. 

 Perhaps the most important colony of Herring 

 Gulls is situated between Berry Head and 

 Kingswear, the birds congregating in greatest 

 numbers in the immediate neighbourhood of the 

 headland. That we have no single crowded 

 breeding station of these Gulls along the coast 

 is very possibly due to the abundance of suitable 

 nesting-places ; in fact, nearly all the rocky coast- 

 line from Torquay to Plymouth is a breeding 

 resort of the Herring Gull, in most places the 

 birds being distributed in scattered pairs, but 

 here and there massed in considerable numbers. 

 So far as our experience goes, this special colony 

 of Herring Gulls behind Berry Head is the largest 

 we have seen anywhere in the British Isles ; its 

 numbers, however, have been reduced of late years, 

 owing entirely, we believe, to the persecution of 

 egg-hunters from Brixham and adjacent villages. 

 Almost every accessible nest is pillaged, those 

 only on the steepest and overhanging portions 

 of the cliffs having any immunity from these 

 human marauders. The Herring Gulls begin 

 nesting in May. The nests are made on the 



