278 WHITE SEA-BIRDS. 



Eggs.— 2-3, olive-buff, spotted and blotched with 

 brown and gray; 3*0 x 2 '1 inches (plate 135). 



Nest. — Of dry grass, seaweed, aiid stalks of weeds 

 growing near, placed on the ground. 



Distribution. — As a breeding bird in Dorsetshire, . 

 Lundy Island, Cornwall, Scilly, Wales, Isle of Man, 

 the Lake District, and Solway ' flows ; ' more numerous 

 in north-west Scotland, Outer Hebrides, and north- 

 west Ireland. As a visitor at all times round our 

 coasts. 



The Great Black-Backed Gull is in appearance a 

 magnified Lesser Black-Backed Gull. It is far less 

 numerous, and by reason of its greater size, slow, 

 flapping flight, and deeper note, easily distinguished 

 from the smaller bird, the only one with which, 

 because of its similar coloration, it could possibly 

 be confounded. It is a cliff-breeder, affecting rocky 

 coasts and islands ; and the predaceous, carrion -eating 

 propensities of the Lesser Black-Back are accentuated 

 in its larger kinsman. It may also be found on hill- 

 tops and on islets in mountain lakes. 



COMMON GULL. — Form, like Herring Gull 

 (plate 115). 18 inches. Back and wings pearl-gray, 

 but the longest flight-feathers blackish, tipped with 

 white ; head, neck, rump, tail, and under parts white ; 

 bill greenish-yellow, tipped full yellow ; legs and feet 

 greenish-yellow. Winter : the head and neck are 

 streaked with brown, and the legs and feet are 

 pale brown. Young: head, neck, and under parts 

 mottled with pale brown ; tail with black band at 

 end. Resident. 



