the presence of brown feathers: in the wings, and a black bar 
across the tip of the tail. Here and there among them 
one may see much larger birds of a brownish-grey colour, and 
with black beaks and pale coloured legs, in place of the cherry- 
red of the beak and legs of the ‘ black-headed”’ species. 
These are the immature stages of the greater and lesser 
black-backed gulls; or of the herring gull. When fully 
adult the two first-named have the back and wings of a dark 
slate colour, the rest of the plumage dazzling white. The 
beak is pale yellow, with a red spot on the angle of the 
lower jaw. During flight the wings are also black, but the 
primaries have white tips. The herring-gull has a pale 
pearl-grey back. 
With a strange perversity the black-headed gull is 
commonly called, by the novice, the “‘ kittiwake.’’ This is a 
totally different bird, rather like a herring-gull in miniature, 
but with a green beak and short black legs. Moreover, it is 
rarely seen inland. It breeds in vast colonies on the ledges 
of precipitous cliffs along the Scottish coast and the west of 
Ireland. There are colonies, too, on Lundy, the Scilly Isles, 
and the Farnes. 
One other gull must be mentioned here, though it is not 
common, save in the northern parts of Scotland. But it is 
a regular winter migrant down the east coast of England 
during the winter. This is Richardson’s skua. You may 
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