226 Order XIV 



regions of Europe make it almost a certainty that this 

 Gull ranges all round the Polar seas. It can hardly 

 be said to have any nest, for the two ohve-brown eggs 

 with dull brown blotches are reported to be laid either 

 on the bare ground or on tussocks in marshes. 



The Little Gull {Larus minutus) is another of our 

 uncommon visitors, but instead of occurring only at 

 considerable intervals, it seldom fails to put in an 

 appearance in the autumn or winter. At times single 

 individuals only are obtained, but in some seasons 

 large numbers are present on our shores and may be 

 found even as far north as Shetland. The bird breeds 

 inland from Jutland to the south-eastern Baltic dis- 

 tricts, northern Russia, and temperate Asia, and makes 

 a nest of grass and so forth on the drier parts of large 

 marshes, the three or four eggs being miniature examples 

 of those of the species next to be described, though 

 usually of the browner type. 



The Black-headed Gull {L. ridibundus) always breeds 

 inland in Britain, and its eggs are often gathered for 

 eating ; they are usually oUve-brown in colour with 

 blackish. or brownish markings, but vary — though less 

 than those of many other Gulls — -to green or greenish 

 blue. A red Gull's egg is exceptional in any case, and 

 therefore much prized by collectors. The nest of marsh 

 herbage is of considerable size and is built on flat 

 islands or in almost inaccessible parts of swamps, 

 more rarely among " casual " water in badly drained 

 spots. Whereas the Little Gull has a decidedly black 

 head and upper neck, the present species has really 

 only a brown hood, not reaching down the neck behind, 

 while it may be noted that two uncommon stragglers 

 in our subsequent list, the Mediterranean and Great 



