508 NATATORES. LARUS. GULL. 
Tue average size of this species exceeds that of the Glau- 
cous Gull, although Tremminck has stated the latter to be 
the largest of the genus. It is met with, but by no means 
plentifully, upon most of our coasts; usually alone, or in 
pairs, and rarely in a flock of more than eight or ten toge- 
Breeding ther. Its breeding stations are on the Steep-holmes and 
Jae and Lundy islands in the Bristol Channel, Souliskerry in the 
Orkneys, the Bass Island in the Frith of Forth, and one or 
two other stations upon the Scottish coast. Its eggs, three 
or four in number, resemble those of the Herring and Lesser 
Black-backed Gulls in colour and markings, but are larger. 
This bird, like its congeners, is of a wary disposition, and 
must be taken by surprise, as it rarely admits of a sufficiently 
Food. ear approach. It is of very voracious appetite, and preys 
upon all kinds of animal substance that may happen to be 
cast on shore. It also keeps a close watch upon the Lesser 
Gulls, whom it drives from any food they may have disco- 
vered, appropriating the whole to itself ; and Monracu men- 
tions it as being a great enemy to the fishermen, as it will 
sever and devour the largest fish from their hooks, if left dry 
by the ebbing of the tide. Its flight is slow, but buoyant, 
without much exertion of the pinions, and, like other species, 
always opposed to the wind. Its voice is a strong and hoarse 
cackle, that may be heard at a great distance, when the bird 
is sailing in the air, and this is more frequently repeated 
during the spring and breeding season than at any other 
time. The young of this, and of the Herring and Lesser 
Black-backed species, have all been confounded together un- 
der the name of Wagel (or Grey) Gull; the plumage of all 
three being very much alike till they attain maturity. The 
present species is common in many parts of the north of Eu- 
rope, but does not appear to extend, at least in any consi- 
derable numbers, to very high latitudes ; as Captain Sabine, 
in his Memoir of the Greenland Birds, states that it was only 
once seen in Baflin’s Bay, and Dr RicHarpson never men- 
tions it. 
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