The eggs of this Gull, though often very much resembling 

 those of the Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls, are ge- 

 nerally marked with much larger blotches of coloui", they are 

 also for the most part considerably larger; I have, however, 

 seen several specimens that were very little, if any, bigger 

 than some large eggs of the Herring Gull. 



Their eggs are rich and excellent to eat; w^hen boiled, the 

 yolk is much deeper in colour than those of the common fowl, 

 and the white transparent ; they are in consequence a most 

 valuable acquisition to the owners of the islands upon which 

 they are deposited. The custom is to take the whole of the 

 eggs as soon as laid, and the second set in like manner, allow- 

 ing them to sit the third time. One gentleman, Mr. Scott, 

 upon whose property they breed, and by whom we were most 

 hospitably received, told us that he had thus secured sixty 

 dozen of their eggs for winter use, although the extent of the 

 island was scarcely half an acre. In Norway, where the many 

 islands offer as many situations suitable for their breeding 

 places, they are much less sociable, and are widely squan- 

 dered. We met with one or two pairs only on most of the 

 lower grassy uninhabited islands. In the motionless and 

 expansive flight of this fine bird, together with the loud laugh- 

 ing bark which they utter (at times much like the cry of that 

 bird) they bear considerable resemblance to the eagle. I have 

 many times watched a number of them with great interest, 

 when almost beyond my sight, whirling round and round in 

 intersecting circles, and for a length of time, without apparently 

 moving at all a feather of their wings, much in the same man- 

 ner in which, according to Audubon, a tribe of vultures survey 

 the surrounding country in search of prey. 



