LXXIX. 

 LARUS ARGENTATUS. (linn.) 



Herring Gull. 



The eggs of the Herring Gull are so exceedingly similar 

 to those of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, that were a num- 

 ber of them mixed together it would be impossible, except in 

 a very few instances, to separate those of the different spe- 

 cies. The only characteristic distinction that I have been 

 able to detect after examining a number of each, is, that the 

 eggs of the Herring Gull are occasionally marked with larger 

 blotches of colour than those of the Lesser Black-backed, and 

 resemble the one figured in the Plate. In places where a 

 choice of situation offers, the Herring Gull seems to prefer 

 those ledges of rock and small patches of grass which some- 

 times occur on the sides of precipices ; its nest is also found 

 on the flat surface of rocks or grassy islands ; it is usually 

 somewhat larger than that of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, 

 and composed of the same materials, rough grass, with pieces 

 of the sod attached, and intermingled with bits of sea-weed. 

 The time of breeding is towards the end of May ; the num- 

 ber of eggs three ; they breed abundantly on various parts of 

 our coast, on the fine cliff of Sumburgh Head the southern 

 termination of Shetland, on the Isle of Wight, and on the 

 Fern islands, but very sparingly. 



To the Rev. W. D. Fox, who also supplied me with a se- 

 ries of their eggs, I am indebted for the following very inte- 

 resting account of one of these birds. At Colbourne, on the 

 Isle of Wight, a Herring Gull made his escape about thirty 

 years ago from a garden where he had been kept a prisoner. 

 From that time, however, to the present, he has returned all 

 but daily to visit the place of his former captivity, though at 

 the distance of six or seven miles from the part of the coast 



