48 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



YOUNG BLACK-HEADED GL'LLS. 



tufts of rushes, tussocks of grass, nettles, 

 or heather, and lays two generally three, 

 and occasionally four eggs. These vary 

 from pale olive green to light umber 

 brown in ground colour, and are blotched, 

 spotted, and streaked with blackish 

 brown and dark grey. The young com- 

 mence to run about or swim if there 

 is water near directly they are hatched, 

 and it is a mystery how the parent 

 birds find their own chicks in the hungry 

 crowd when they return home with 

 food. 



It will be seen in our illustration how 



widely a young Black-Headed Gull in 

 its first coat of feathers differs from its 

 parents in appearance. 



A peculiar thing noticeable at Black- 

 Headed Gulleries in June is that a young 

 bird of this species may be able to fly 

 quite well before it has been fed, but 

 not afterwards, until the food has been 

 disgorged or digested. Apparently con- 

 scious of this fact, a young Gull falling 

 into danger soon after a meal will dis- 

 gorge the food and, taking wing, fly away. 



Like other defenceless birds, this Gull 

 has many enemies. At Ravenglass jack- 

 daws breed in rabbits' burrows and prey 

 upon its eggs, and peregrines come down 

 from the mountains to snatch up its 

 feathered young ones. 



This charming Gull has endeared itself 

 to Londoners by regularly visiting the 

 Thames above bridge every winter since 

 the rigorous weather of 1895. It is a 

 great friend and benefactor of the 

 farmer, whose land it clears of 

 noxious grubs ; but is said to be an 

 enemy of the fisherman on account of 

 its destruction of fry. 



