162 
LARID^. 
yj TA TORES. 
LARIDJE. 
PLATE CCCXI. 
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 
LARUS FUSCUS. 
The present species is indigenous in Great Britain, fre¬ 
quenting most parts of the English coast, but more numerous 
in some parts than in others. Ornithologists of latter days 
differ respecting the locality preferred by this bird during 
the breeding season ; but v.'e have great reason to believe 
that all are in the right, and that their several observations 
have been made principally in their own immediate neigh¬ 
bourhood, and that the Lesser Black-backed Gull frequents 
all situations equally, for the purpose of breeding. 
The geographical distribution of the Lesser Black-backed 
Gull extends principally over Europe and America. Great 
numbers seem to frequent the coast of Norway; it is 
common in the Hebrides, and in the Orkney and Shetland 
groups. In Holland, France, and the adjacent shores it 
is well known ; and numerous on the Red Sea and the 
Mediterranean. In Ameriea it frequents the northern parts, 
and extends as far south as Carolina. 
The present species breeds either on the rocks, or in 
