The Common Gull. 77 



to the sixth the basal grey colour increases, and is broken by a black bar and a 

 white tip ; " the seventh quill grey, with a white tip, and with a dark spot on 

 the outer web in all but very mature birds ; the remaining quills white terminally 

 and grey basally " (Saunders) ; the bill, legs and feet greenish-yellow. The 

 average dimensions of a British species — specimens from the Pacific coast of Asia 

 are considerably larger — length 17 \ inches; wing i\\; tail, which falls short of 

 the wings by 2 inches, 6 ; tarsus 2 ; middle toe and its claw il inches. 



The Common Gull is an early breeder. Early in April they have migrated 

 northwards from their winter quarters and sought out their breeding places. They 

 have mated and begun to build before the month is well out, and by the middle of 

 May eggs may be obtained. The breeding ground may be in all sorts of sites ; 

 it may be on the sea coast ; on an island near the coast ; on an isolated and 

 unfrequented islet far from the mainland ; or it may be on an inland fresh water 

 loch. The nest may be placed in these sites high or low — on the shore at the 

 sea level ; in marshes as elevated as four thousand feet above the sea ; or on a 

 cliff, though rarely high upon it ; on the turf on a slope facing the sea. 



Their nests are often very large, and composed of grass, turf, heather, sea 

 weed, or any sort of vegetable refuse they find handy, and are placed a few together 

 in Shetland, sometimes in company with other Gulls — as the Herring Gull, and 

 with the Arctic Tern — or in vast colonies. The nest is most often found, according 

 to Seebohm, " especially where the colonies are large, in flat open country ; . . . 

 and in Norway Collett has known it to breed in the deserted nest of a Hooded 

 Crow, near the top of a pine, not far from a lake. The Common Gull occasionally 

 perches in lofty trees, generally choosing the summit or a dead branch. In the 

 valley of the Yenisei I shot one of these birds after having watched it for some 

 time perched on a branch of a larch." 



From two to three eggs are generally laid, very variable in ground colour, 

 from olive- to yellow-brown ; and from lighter to deeper shades of green ; 

 covered with dots and spots of dark brown, black and purplish-grey. In dimensions 

 they average about 2% inches in length by x\ in diameter. 



The nestlings make their appearance in June, covered with a light grey down, 

 streaked and spotted above with brown and black, "with a black spot at the base 

 of the bill, apparently characteristic of this species " (Saunders) ; under side 

 yellowish-grey, rarely spotted. If the nest be on a tree, a cliff, or a place from which 

 they cannot run, the chicks remain in the nest till fledged. If the nest be on 

 the flat they leave almost at once. They are fed by the parents on Crustacea 

 {Ilyale nilssoni in Norway), insect larvae and small fishes. 



The fully fledged bird has the forehead white; and the region from in front 



Vol. VI. N 



