370 THE BIRDS OF DEVON. 



may be seen clotted about in all directions searching for 

 food ; as the flood again comes in they retire to the cliffs 

 or pass the time floating gracefully on the surface of the 

 water, some of them following the advancing tide far 

 inland, on the chance of its disturbing anything from the 

 mud which may provide them with prey. A common 

 sight of a still evening are the long lines of Gulls beating 

 with measured flight along the shore as they seek their 

 favourite roosting-places on some distant cliffs. Often the 

 Gulls are to be seen wheeling in the air far inland, when 

 their presence is considered to be portentous of storms. 

 Often, too, those which are not strictly oceanic species 

 may be noticed on freshly ploughed fields in the winter 

 and spring in company with Rooks and Starlings in search 

 of worms, or following close behind the plough, contend- 

 ing with one another for any spoils it may bring to light. 

 All the Gulls are birds of singularly graceful and buoyant 

 flight, and their snowy forms are an adornment to the 

 marine landscape, wdiether they are beheld soaring over 

 the blue waters, or perched upon the shore, or skirting the 

 cliffs. The old birds are always to be known by their 

 pure white tails and grey or black mantles ; the younger 

 birds are brown, and take three years before the last dark 

 bars disappear from their tails — the least trace of a band 

 upon the tail being an invariable sign that the adult plumage 

 has not been fully reached. Some of the Gulls nest upon 

 the ledges of the cliffs facing the sea (Herring-Gull and 

 Kittiwake) ; others upon the shelving ground on the top 

 (Greater and Lesser Black-backed Gulls) ; while the 

 various Black-head'ed Gulls breed in society (in " Gul- 

 leries" as they are termed) and place their nests upon the 

 ground in marshes ; the Common Gull also nests in pre- 

 ference upon the ground at the edges of lochs. The eggs, 

 generally three in number, are characteristic and beautiful, 



