2 
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 
At the time of my last visit to Caithness large iiumhers of this species nested out on the dampest of 
the flats in the central portions of the county ; many of these colonies must, I should imagine, have been 
l)roken up by the construction of the railroad. Aluch of the wild moorland to the north of Loch Shin in 
Sutherland has been brought under cultivation by the help of steam-ploughs, and doubtless here also the Gulls 
that bred in tbe localities have been banished from their summer-quarters. On one occasion, in June 1868, 
while spending the night on the hills near Loch Beannoch, a short distance to the north of Loch Shin, I 
remarked that these birds were continually passing over the moors towards the west, where a few colonics 
existed in those days. There was not half an lionr during the night that two or three were not seen, all 
holding the same course ; doubtless these birds were returning from a lengthened flight to the salt-water 
firths or the open sea. The rocky ledges along the barren northern and western coast-line, and the dreary 
stretches of marshland surrounding the inland lochs and pools in the outlying islands, to which the Lesser 
Black-backed Gull resorts, are mostly free from intrusion, and unless a few eggs are collected by the families 
of the crofters for food, the birds suffer little annoyance during the breeding-season. At the Bass, the 
reasons assigned for the diminution of the llerring-Gull have also affected this species ; on the Bern Islands 
the protection afforded by the presence of the egg-gatherers kept up the stock to the usual standard during 
the years I received information on the subject. 
I am aware of no breeding-stations about the upper waters of the Lyon, in the north-west of Perthshire ; 
several of these Gulls were, however, taken regularly every spring in the vermin-traps set on the moors 
during the years the Innerwick shootings were in my hands. These birds appeared to follow the course 
of the river up from the Tay, passing usually at a higher elevation on the hills than the Common Gulls, not 
one of which was ever captured by these means. The carnivorous propensities of this species may be judged 
from the fact that while killing down the vermin in 1806, several were taken at baits consisting of fox-cubs, 
cats, and blue hares ; eggs also proved attractive on two or three oceasious the following season. In the more 
northern counties of Boss, Sutherland, and Caithness their depredations cause considerable losses tothegame- 
])reservers, eggs and young of Grouse, Plovers, and Wildfowl suflering severely from their attacks ; they 
appear, however, by no means so destructive to the smolts as the Common Gull. 
At the time of the bringing out of the Sea-Bird Act it was stated that Gulls were of great assistance 
to the fishermen, by indicating the whereabouts of the fish, and so guiding them to the best spots for shooting 
their nets. This all looks very pretty and interesting in print, but I have yet to leaim that the Gull is a 
favourite with the seafaring population. When the shoals of mackerel arrive off the south coast in the 
spring, hundreds of seine-boats are engaged in watching for the fish to come to the surface ; as soon as they 
are sighted the crews row rapidly to the spot, and shooting the net round them, frequently enclose large 
numbers. Should aiiy Gulls, however, be near at hand, their sharp eyes are sure to detect the first ripple 
on the water, and dashing down into the middle of the shoal, the fish are driven to the bottom, and the men 
wdio may have rowed hard for half a mile or more, and possibly paid out a portion of tluir net, find their time 
and labour thrown away, while the mischievous birds, with a derisive scream, sail olf to repeat the performance 
at the earliest opportunity. While watching these proceedings off Brighton and Shoreham, I have often been 
requested by the crews of the boats to shoot the Gulls, the men declaring that what with the Bird-Act and the 
Gun-License they were unable to help themselves, being forced to stand quietly by wdiilo the birds snatched the 
bread from their mouths. The number of these Gulls that congregate in the Korth Sea during the herring-season 
is enormous ; here, again, they cause great loss to the fishermen. I have been assured by the masters of some 
of the luggers that they have not unfrequently been deprived of a last of herrings, and occasionally up to four 
or five times that amount, by their depredations. As a last is ten thousand fish *, the quantity might seem 
* A “ last,” though spokeu of as ten thousand, in reality contains 13,200 herrings. When the boats bring their cargoes to the wharf at 
Yarmouth, the fish are counted out sis score and twelve to the hundred ; mackerel in this port are reckoned at six score to the hundred, and 
