232 
BIRDS. 
348. Larus argentatus, Gm. Herring Gull. 
Common all tlie year round on the coasts ; retiring in tlie east, 
inland to breed, where it mixes with L. fuscus, the two 
species nesting side by side. 
Caithness names — " Maw " ; young bird, " SIcorrie." iiesident, 
and most abundant, breeding in the sea-cliffs ; never, accord- 
ing to Mr. Osborne, in the flows of the interior of the 
county, as is the case in Sutherland. Their movements are 
watched by the fishermen during the herring season, as by 
their presence they denote where the shoals of fish are to 
be found (0. MSS., 1868). 
As the lesser black-backed gull has decreased, so 
apparently has the present species increased in numbers. 
The whole coast may be described as one vast gullery of 
these birds. At Dunnet there are five miles of cliffs, of 
from .50 to 320 feet high, occupied by herring gulls, and 
everywhere they are abundant, and still increasing. All 
along the Dunnet coast we only met with one pair of 
lesser black-backed gulls, and these were being severely 
handled by mobs of herring gulls. 
349. Larus fuscus, L. Lesser Black-backed Gull. 
Very common in summer, much less numerous in the winter. 
Breeds in numbers about the hill lochs of the east coast, 
and often away from the lochs, on the flow-ground. Less 
numerous now than ten years ago ; and the same may be 
said of the species just mentioned, and also the next in 
order, as the eggs are smashed and the young killed on 
all possible occasions by the shepherds and gamekeepers, on 
account of the damage they do. On some of the large 
flows in the centre of the county gulls are now almost 
extinct, where ten years ago they M'ere abundant. In the 
west, found generally mixing with herring gulls, where the 
