22 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



of the dis- 

 tance I was 

 away from 

 the rock 

 upon which 

 they alight- 

 ed, I re- 

 turned to 

 the fray a 

 day or two 

 afterwards. 

 On this oc- 

 ca s io n I 

 was accom- 

 panied by 

 a different 

 keeper, who 



helped me to move my hiding con- 

 trivance a few feet nearer to the rock. 

 After I had been carefully hidden my 

 companion went away to fish for trout 

 on the loch. Although I waited long 

 and patiently, and could hear the 

 Gulls uttering their alarm notes high 

 overhead, they would not come down, 

 and I was at last reluctantly compelled 



THE GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



to acknowledge defeat, crawl out of my 

 place of hiding, and hail the keeper. 

 On our way home I remarked that the 

 behaviour of the birds had completely 

 puzzled me. Seeing that they had been 

 fairly bold during my first visit, and 

 had had time in which to grow familiar 

 with my hiding contrivance, I could not 

 understand why they had grown shyer 

 instead of bolder. 



" Ah, well," remarked my companion, 

 " the explanation is probably to be 

 sought in the fact that I shot at the Gulls 

 about a week ago ; they could see me 

 fishing on the loch whilst you were wait- 

 ing, would remember me, and, no doubt, 

 feared another attack." And that in all 

 probability was a correct solution of the 

 problem. 



The Great Black Back makes a large, 

 slovenly nest of seaweed, heather, dead 

 grass, and bits of wool. The eggs gener- 

 ally number three, although only two 

 are sometimes met with It is said that 

 the young do not obtain full plumage 

 until they are about five years of age. 



