The Zoologist — April, 1866. i79 



birds, and if any reader will furnish me, personally or by letter, with 

 information which may enable me to obtain them, I pledge my word 

 that no ungentlemanly advantage shall be taken nor slaughter per- 

 petrated. Now, without further preamble, I will get on with my 

 notes. 



I had fancied Barrow, or Barrow-in-Furness, as it is properly called, 

 to be a small country village, a mere means to an end, viz. that of 

 getting to Walney. To my disgust I found that there were furnaces 

 in Barrow (excuse the pun), docks were being made, and " navvies" 

 were there in swarms, the town itself a dreary wilderness of red brick 

 houses "whose sameness was shocking to see." Early in the morning 

 of one of the very first days of June I crossed the narrow creek which 

 separates Barrow from the village of North Scale, on Walney Island, 

 and, profiting by the experiences of my predecessor, I soon got hold 

 of the right man to act as guide, whom I shall call "Jack." Together 

 we sought the abode of the stern proprietor of the land where the 

 blackheaded gulls breed, and after some debate he granted permission 

 to visit his " gullery " and take a very few eggs, also to carry a gun 

 over his land, on the express condition that I was not to disturb the 

 gulls, nor meddle with the rabbits, which swarmed on the " warren " 

 where the gulls were. I readily gave the required promise, and we set 

 out, meeting on our way Harry, the son of the proprietor, who had 

 been down at the warren, keeping an eye upon the movements of 

 certain foraging navvies. 



Wheatears were abundant, and numbers of peewits hovered over us, 

 uttering their plaintive cry, as we crossed the flat on our way to the 

 principal colony of the gulls, which lies on the western side of the 

 island. Long before we reached the nests the air was alive with some 

 three or four hundred pairs of birds hovering over our heads and 

 raising a deafening clamour. The nests had been al.eady robbed, and 

 consequently the eggs we found were mostly of the smaller sized pale 

 varieties, but this 1 did not regret, as I already possessed a good series 

 of the ordinary types from Scoulton Mere, in Norfolk. Numbers of 

 young were already hatched, and as upon the smallest alarm they run 

 from the nest, and attempt to conceal themselves in the tussocks 

 of coarse grass, great care was required to avoid stepping upon 



them. 



After enjoying for some time the animated scene, and selecting just 

 half a dozen eggs, I enquired for the breeding-place of the Sandwich 

 terns, or as they are here called " sea.swallows," but Harry stated that 



