434 VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF LAKELAND 



from their time-honoured stronghold. The Great Black-backed 

 Gull has now apparently ceased to nest upon Wedholm Flow. 

 The once flourishing colony upon a neighbouring moss has been 

 reduced to two or three pairs, all of which were robbed during 

 the present year. It is a matter for some regret that this fine 

 species has been so nearly exterminated. These last are the 

 survivors of a colony of a dozen pairs, which had for some 

 seasons repaired in spring to nest upon some large tussocks of 

 rough grass, which they strictly reserved for their own use. 

 Upon Wedholm Flow the eggs were sometimes laid upon the 

 bare ground, but here they are deposited in large nests, con- 

 sisting of dry stems and heather, piled together in a considerable 

 mass. Upon one of our visits — on July 19, 1890 — my party 

 caught three of the young birds, each crouching under shelter 

 of the heather and rough grass quite by itself. Two of the 

 number apparently belonged to the same nest, a difference in 

 size being accounted for by the fact that even in early life the 

 male slightly exceeds the other sex in dimensions. But the 

 third bird was considerably younger, since much down adhered 

 to the sides of the head and to the breast, and the wing pens 

 were only half grown. When discovered, this bird rose and 

 ran away as fast as it could, screaming lustily with its infantine 

 larynx. As the person who accompanied us was fully deter- 

 mined to take these young birds, and could not be dissuaded, 

 we agreed to pay him a consideration and to retain them our- 

 selves. We left them at the man's cottage to be pinioned, 

 together with some young Lesser Black-backed Gulls. While 

 in his charge the birds strayed on the railway line. The finest 

 Great Black-backed Gulls escaped, but all the Lesser Black- 

 backs were immolated by a passing train, and the youngest 

 individual of the larger species received injuries to which it 

 shortly after succumbed. I fetched the survivors home on the 

 29th of July, and turned them down in a walled garden. In 

 early life these individuals often uttered a plaintive and shrill 

 cry, which bore considerable resemblance to that of a young 

 Curlew. Though attached to one another, the male from the 

 first tyrannised over his companion. They both showed great 

 hostility to a stuffed Lesser Black-back which was placed on 



