204 BRITISH BIRDS. 



is nearly the description of an individual ; but from 

 the number which the author has examined, it is 

 certain that these birds vary, from age, climate, or 

 season, in the markings of the- head, quills, tail, 

 and in the colour of the bills and feet, hardly two 

 being found exactly alike. Some have the head 

 quite white ; some the quills plain black at the 

 ends ; others the tail tipped with black, and the feet 

 blushed with red, green, or blue. Their plumage 

 and look altogether is very clean and agreeable. 



The habits and manners of this species are much 

 the same as those of the rest of the genus : they are 

 spread all over the globe, and are the most common 

 and numerous of all the Gulls Avhich frequent the 

 British shores. They breed on the rocky cliffs; 

 and lay three eggs, nearly of the size of those of a 

 Hen, of an olive brown, marked with dark reddish 

 blotches, or irregular spots. At the mouths of the 

 larger rivers, they are seen in numbers, picking up 

 the animal substances which are cast on shore, or 

 come floating down with the tide: for this kind of 

 food they watch with a quick eye, and it is curious 

 to observe how such as are near the breakers will 

 mount upon the surface of the water, and run 

 splashing towards the summit of the wave to catch 

 the object of their pursuit. They also, at par- 

 ticular seasons, resort to the inland parts to feed 

 upon worms, &c. 



Some persons who live near the sea commonly 

 eat this, as well as various other kinds of Gulls, 

 which they describe as being good food, when they 

 have undergone a certain sweetening process be- 

 fore cooking, such as burying them in fresh mould 

 for a day, or washing them in vinegar. 



