The Herring Gull. "83 



had the pleasure of observing a Gull on one of these red eggs. Before my arrival 

 two red eggs had been taken from a nest shown to me, and another nest had 

 been made by the same pair of Gulls a few yards off, in which was a splendid 

 specimen. I lay down behind some rocks about sixty yards away, and after waiting 

 twenty minutes a Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) walked quietly up to the nest 

 and settled. I watched her through my glasses for some time, and am as sure 



of her identity as if I had shot and handled her To show how scarce 



the red eggs are, I may say I went to a large group of islands (ten miles from 

 that first mentioned) where an enormous number of Gulls breed. At the time of 

 my visit 7320 eggs had already been sent to market, and the season was not 

 nearly over. Half of these I estimated to be from L. argentatus, yet no red egg 

 had ever been taken on this group of islands. There is an even larger colony of 

 L. argentatus at the north end of Fu'glo, a well known bird rock, but the Lapps 

 living there say they never find any red eggs." The eggs being of excellent 

 flavour are sent to the market in enormous numbers ; and, indeed, in our Western 

 Isles, they are trusted to by the fishermen as a very material part of their support 

 during the fishing season. 



The chicks issue from the egg as down-covered squabs, of a greyish-buff or 

 yellowish-white colour, variously mottled with black on the head, back and chest 

 - — darker on the head and lighter on the under side. The changes of plumage 

 they assume between the fledgling and the adult stages, when they are ready to 

 breed, that is when the birds are about five years old, are very complicated, and 

 may be quoted from Mr. Saunder's British Museum Catalogue, as no one else 

 can speak so authoritatively on the subject :— 



" In the first autumn the upper parts are streaked and mottled with brown 

 and greyish-buff; quills dark umber, with paler inner webs and whitish tips to 

 most ; rectrices similar, but more or less mottled with whitish at the bases of the 

 two or three outer pairs ; feathers of the upper tail- coverts brown, with whitish- 

 buff tips ; under parts nearly uniform brown at first, but afterwards brownish- grey, 

 mottled ; bill blackish, paler at base of lower mandible. 



"The second autumn the head is nearly white, streaked with greyish-brown; 

 the upper parts, are barred with brown on a greyish ground, though no pure grey 

 feathers have yet made their appearance on the mantle; quills paler; tail more 

 mottled with white at the bases of all the feathers. 



"In the third autumn the feathers of the mantle are chiefly grey, with some 

 brownish streaks down the shafts; a faint sub-apical spot begins to show on the 

 outermost primary ; tail coverts partly white, and the dark portion of the rectrices 

 is much broken up ; under parts nearly white. 



