BRITISH BIRDS 



Its cry is loud and harsh, and is not unlike a laugh, while, in common with the 

 other large Gulls, it often emits a succession of yelping notes from its widely- 

 opened mouth as it stands erect on some rock or sandbank. 



A specimen of the Yellow-legged Herring-Gull, Lanes cachinnans, Pallas, was 

 obtained on Breydon Water, Norfolk, in November 1886. This species is common 

 in the Mediterranean, and chiefly differs from our bird in having the legs and feet 

 yellow instead of flesh-colour. The habits and nidification of the two species are 

 alike. 



THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 

 Larus fuscus, Linnaeus. 

 Plate 73. 



The Lesser Black-backed Gull is a well-known bird along the shores of the 

 British Islands, breeding in large colonies in suitable localities from the Shetlands 

 to the Scilly Islands, though it is not in general so widely distributed in summer 

 as the species last described. It inhabits Norway, Sweden, and Northern Russia 

 as far east as the Dwina, and breeds as far south as the Mediterranean ; while in 

 winter it visits the west coast of Africa, the Red Sea, and Persian Gulf. 



The majority of the birds found on the Continent of Europe are darker on the 

 mantle than our Gull, which is considered a subspecies by Dr. Percy R. Lowe {vide 

 Witherby's British Birds (vol. vi. pp. 2-7) ). 



The Lesser Black-backed Gull, in the breeding season, shows a preference for 

 islands, such as the Fames, off the coast of Northumberland, or the islets which one 

 finds in Scotland among the waters of an inland loch, although the birds also breed 

 in bogs. The nests, which I have seen on the Scilly Islands, were composed of dry 

 grasses, etc., and were placed in depressions among the lichen-covered rocks. 



The eggs, usually three in number, vary in ground-colour from pale greenish- 

 blue to brown, blotched and spotted with purplish-grey and deep brown. The food 

 is similar to that of the Herring-Gull, but the present species appears to be even 

 more destructive to the eggs of game birds and wild fowl than the other. The cries 

 of the two species are much alike, but practised ears can detect a difference. 



In winter the head and neck are marked with dusky streaks, while the young 

 more or less resemble those of the Herring-Gull. 



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