ORDER GAVI^ 263 



also a coast bird, feeding upon small fish, crabs, etc. It 

 lays from one to four eggs in a mere depression in the sand. 



The Sandpipers, etc., are a large group, the individuals of 

 which require descriptions too long for a work of this nature, 

 and the student or reader must therefore refer to the more 

 extensive monographs or text books. 



ORDER GAYIM 



The Southern Black-backed Gull {Larus dominicanus) is 

 white, with the exception of the mantle and wiags, which are 

 blackish. Bill yellow with a reddish tip to the lower mandible . 

 Length, 24 inches ; wing, 17 inches. 



It is common all along the coast, and lives upon the 

 garbage thrown overboard from the ships, insects, shellfish, 

 and it even feeds upon the dead bodies of seals and whales. 

 Its eggs may be looked for during the months of November 

 and December. They are deposited on the sand of the sea- 

 shore, and are usually three in number, and of a brownish 

 green colour spotted with pale and dark brown. 



There are two species of Gull which resemble one another 

 somewhat, the Grey-headed Gull {Larus cirrhocephalus) and 

 Hartland's Gull (Larus hartlaiibi). The latter is distinguished 

 from the former by its white head and neck, while these 

 regions, as its vernacular name indicates, in the former 

 species, are grey. These two species are of much the same 

 size, measuring 15 to 16 inches in length, and both species 

 have red legs and a red beak. The Grey-headed Gull is, 

 however, a more inland species than the other, being found 

 in colonies on many of the inland waters. 



The various species of Terns resemble one another so closely 

 that only the commonest need concern us here. 



The Common Tern {Sterna fluviatilis), is white below 



