BLACK-HEADED GULL 213 



partially overgrown with rushes. The nests are 

 formed of weeds and ritshes, placed just above the 

 water and near together, several htmdreds being 

 sometimes found within an area of less than one 

 quarter of an acre. The eggs are four in number, 

 large for the bird, obtusely pointed, of a pale clay- 

 colour, thickly spotted at the big end and sparsely 

 on the other parts with black. 



Every morning at break of day the Gulls rise up 

 from their nests and hover in a cloud over the marsh, 

 producing so great a noise with their mingled cries 

 that it can be heard distinctly at a distance of two 

 miles. The eggs are considered a great delicacy, 

 resembling those of the Plover in taste and appear- 

 ance, and are consequently much sought after, so 

 that when the locality near which a gullery is situated 

 becomes inhabited the birds have no chance of 

 rearing their young, as the boys in the neighbour- 

 hood ride into the marsh every morning to gather 

 the eggs. The Gulls are, however, very tenacious 

 of their old breeding-places, and continue even after 

 years of persecution to resort to them. 



The young birds are of a pale grey colour, mottled 

 with dull brown, and have a whining, querulous cry. 

 The plumage becomes lighter, through the autumn 

 and winter, but it is not until the ensuing summer, 

 when the dark brown nuptial hood is assumed, that 

 the young birds acquire the perfect plumage — soft 

 grey-blue above, and the white bosom with its lovely 

 pink blush. 



As soon as the young are able to fly the breeding- 



