THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL 285 



THE HERRING GULL 



LARUS ARGENTATUS 



Head and neck white, streaked in summer with light brown ; tail and lower 

 parts white ; back and wings bluish ash ; primaries dusky, passing into 

 black, the shafts black and extremities white ; secondaries edged and 

 tipped with white ; bill, orbits, and irides, yellow ; feet flesh-colour. 

 In young birds the white is mostly replaced by dark grey, mottled with 

 brown ; wings and tail brown, the latter reddish yellow towards the 

 end ; bill dusky ; irides, orbits, and feet, brown. Length twenty- 

 three inches. Eggs olive-brown, spotted with dark brown and dusky. 



If, among a flock of Common Gulls, seen either following a vessel 

 at sea or attending on the movements of a shoal of fish, one be 

 observed which greatly surpasses the rest in size, it will probably 

 be this species, provided that it have a grey and not a black back. 

 In the latter case it may either be the Great or Lesser Black-Backed 

 GuU. 



The Herring Gull is a large and powerful bird, thoroiiglily com- 

 petent to dispose of a herring or even a more bulky fish. It is 

 common on most parts of the British coast, and remains with us 

 all the year, building its nest on steep cliffs, or rocky islands. In 

 the south of England it is very abundant, and is more frequently 

 seen inland, in newly-ploughed fields, than any other species. Like 

 the other Gulls, it may easily be tamed if taken young ; and, when 

 kept in a garden, earns its maintenance by keeping down slugs and 

 other vermin. 



THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL 



LARUS FUSCUS 



Wings reaching two inches beyond the tail ; head and neck white, streaked 

 (in winter) with brown ; lower parts pure white ; rest of the upper plumage 

 blackish grey ; primaries black, the first two with an oval white spot 

 near the tip ; secondaries and scapulars tipped with white ; bill, irides 

 and feet, yellow ; tarsus two and a quarter inches long ; orbits red. 

 In young birds the white plumage is mostly replaced by grey mottled 

 with brown, and the black by dusky edged with yellowish ; the primaries 

 have no white spots, and the bill is dusky. Length twenty-three 

 inches. Eggs brownish grey, spotted with brown and black. 



This is a generally diffused species, occurring in considerable num- 

 bers, not only on various parts of our coast, but in the Baltic, the 

 Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, and the northern parts 

 of America. It repairs in spring either to rocky islands, steep cliffs, 

 or sometimes to inland lakes, where it builds a rather large nest 

 of tufts of grass, and lays two or three eggs. When the young are 



