THE BLACK-HEADED GULL 



THE BLACK-HEADED GULL. 



Larus ridibundus, Linnaeus. 

 Plate 72. 



This bird is very common, and seems to be increasing throughout the British 

 Islands, in summer breeding in large colonies on the margins of inland lakes and 

 marshes, and in winter haunting the sea shore, estuaries, and rivers. Most of the 

 Gulls which visit London in the latter season appear to be of this species, and they 

 become very tame and fearless owing to the food and protection they receive. The 

 nest, a collection of withered flags and rushes, is built on the ground among marsh 

 vegetation, and usually contains three eggs, olive-green, pale brown, or occasionally 

 bluish in colour, blotched with deep brown. 



The loud harsh cry of the Black-headed Gull, which never ceases when their 

 territory is invaded, has given to this species the name of Laughing Gull. 



Its food is various, consisting of worms, larvae, and insects obtained in the 

 fields, or small fish, crustaceans, etc., from the rivers and sea shore. 



THE MEDITERRANEAN BLACK-HEADED GULL. 



Larus melanocephalus, Natterer. 

 Plate 72. 



This species, easily distinguished from the Common Black-headed Gull in 

 summer plumage by its jet-black head — which in our bird is not really black but 

 a sooty-brown — only rarely visits the British Islands, where four examples have 

 been recorded at different times. It inhabits the Mediterranean, especially to the 

 east of Italy, and also the Black Sea, while westwards it occurs along the coast of 

 Spain as far as South-western France. 



According to Lord Lilford's Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British 

 Islands, "the present species nests in small numbers on the western coast of 

 European Turkey and on some of the coast-marshes of the Black Sea. In habits 

 this Black-headed Gull does not appear to differ materially from Larus ridibundus, 

 but its cry is much harsher and deeper-toned than that of the latter bird, from 

 which it is to be easily distinguished at all seasons by the greater thickness of its 

 bill and generally more robust form." 



iv. 65 1 



