THE COMMON GULL. 
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growing round them. A favourite site for the nest is a grassy 
slope facing the sea, not very far from higli- water mark. One 
such spot known to me happens to be enclosed by an old ruined 
wall, and is much resorted to by this species as a breeding-ground, 
some nests being among the loose stones outside, and some, a 
dozen or so — inside close under the wall. Here I have seen three 
eggs in a nest, all chipped, in the act of hatching, the birds 
within the egg making a shrill chirping noise. Almost as 
soon as they are hatched they leave the nest, and I believe 
that they always run towards the sea. These newly-hatched 
birds will hide among grass or in any inequalities of the 
ground, to escape notice, and will snap smartly at a finger 
presented to them. 
For the convenience of any who may like to compare the 
young from some other locality and climate, I give a descrip- 
tion of the newly-hatched bird. Whole length, about four and 
a half inches ; bill, half an inch ; tarsi, eight lines ; middle 
toe and claw, eight lines ; bill, dull flesh colour at point, 
remainder dark brown, with a tinge of reddish purple ; upper 
surface of body, dull light yellowish grey, with indistinct dusky 
mottlings; head, paler, with well-defined black spots; under 
surface same as upper, but without any marks ; upon the wing 
a black spot. Like the young of the Lesser Black-backed, 
which it very closely resembles, it has a spot in front of and 
one behind the eye, but it differs in having also marks imme- 
diately above and below the eye ; these marks are absent in 
the Lesser Black-backed, and afford an unfailing indication of 
the species in a comparison of the two. 
One day in December 1860 I shot a miniature specimen of 
the Common Gull, an adult male in full plumage, but so 
curiously small as to in those days set me wondering whether 
my studies in Shetland were destined to establish the existence 
of a smaller species, which should be to L. canus what the 
Lesser Black-backed is to the Greater, or what the Iceland Gull 
is to the Glaucous. The fancy came to nothing, however, as 
time went on. The bird was only fourteen and a half inches 
