Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Lx. (1916), No. 3. 



III. A Change in the Habits of the Black-headed Gull. 



By T. A. Coward, F.Z.S., F.E.S. 



(Received and read November jof/i, iQi5> ) 



In 1910 Charles Oldham and I drew attention to the 

 fact that numbers of Black-headed Gulls roosted nightly 

 in autumn and winter on Rostherne Mere.* No special 

 notice has, however, beenjtaken of the remarkable change 

 in habit which this fact denotes. 



The Black-headed Gull, Larus ridibundus Linn., is the 

 most abundant British gull, and is far commoner in inland 

 localities than any other species. It frequents the coasts, 

 follows up rivers and canals, is plentiful on inland waters 

 and feeds freely on sewage farms and fields at a con- 

 siderable distance from the sea. I have seen it feeding 

 on the sewage farm at Water Orton, as central a locality 

 in England as one can imagine. 



Within the last twenty-five or thirty years the bird 

 has steadily and rapidly increased ; all recent writers on 

 ornithology comment on this fact. There is every reason 

 to believe that this increase dates from 1880, when effec- 

 tive legislation gave protection to Wild Birds. At first 

 the increase was little noticed, and it was not until the 

 hard winter of 1894-95 brought large numbers into the 

 Thames and the starved birds became more or less tame 

 that the public generally noticed their presence. After 

 this Black-heads came regularly into London every winter, 



* " Vert. Fauna of Cheshire,"' I., 428. 

 January iyt/1, 1916. 



