THE HERRING-GULL. 365 



four years. They have built near a pond in his garden, and are 

 now hatching : there were two eggs when I saw them. If 

 any one a2)proaches the nest, the bird which is not sitting imme- 

 diately comes to the assistance and defence of its mate. They 

 are in beautiful plumage, adult, with the exception of a little 

 mottling, which remains about the flanks." Mr. Hodder, who 

 lives on the coast~of Cork, opposite the islands called Reannies, 

 had a pair of herring-gulls which bred and produced three or four 

 young; no eggs were laid until the fourth year. These gulls 

 were kept in a yard with fowls, and their nest was made in the 

 fowl-house. Soon after bringing her young to maturity, the 

 female was accidentally killed. 



Mr. R. Warren, jun., of Castle Warren (county Cork), supplied 

 me, in March 1850, with the following note on a herring -gull. 

 "In July 1848, I brought it and two others from the Reannies 

 when quite young and unable to fly. As this was the finest bird 

 of the three, I never chpped its wings, but kept it in the farm- 

 yard with the others and the poultry, where it remained quite 

 contented, and showed no symptoms of a wish to fly away until 

 the 19th of August, 1849, when a flight was taken into one of 

 the neighbouring fields. It remained until the evening there, 

 and then flew towards the sea, but returned next morning to be 

 fed. This bird continued to go and come regularly for about a 

 week, when it disappeared altogether, and I was afraid had met 

 with some accident ; but on the 14th of December, I was agree- 

 ably surprised by seeing it flying over the yard, and on my calling 

 Jack, to which name the bird answers, it alighted on the roof of 

 one of the out-houses and began crying for food. I threw it a 

 bit of meat, which was instantly swallowed, and then it flew away. 

 Next morning it came back, and on seeing my other gulls in the 

 yard, alighted with them, and remained until dusk, when it went 

 off to roost somewhere. It continued to act thus until the 23rd 

 of the same month, when it took flight, and did not return until 

 the 4'th of January, but has continued its visits pretty regularly 

 since. During the night it never remains, but flies off in the 

 evening towards the sea. This bird is very tame, and will take a 



