202 
British Birds. 
The eggs are three or four in number, olive-brown or dark clay-brown, with markings 
of reddish brown and dusky-grey. Their length is from an inch-and-three-quarters 
to a little over two inches. 
The Great Black-headed Gull. 
The Black-headed Gull. 
The Mediterranean Black-headed Gull. 
THE 
BLACK-HEADED 
GULL. 
( Larus ridibundus.) 
This species has a dark brown hood in summer, but in 
winter the head is white, with the hinder crown greyish, while 
there is a dusky spot in front of the eye and another behind the 
ear-coverts. There is often a distinct rosy tinge on the white 
under surface of the body. The species nests in colonies in 
many parts of the United Kingdom, generally in marshy places, or on islands in 
lakes, very seldom on rocks or near the sea-shore. It is found nesting in similar 
localities throughout temperate Europe and Asia. In the autumn and winter these 
Gulls are found frequenting the coasts, and often ascend rivers. They are now 
quite a common object on the Thames and on the waters of the London parks. It 
is a tame species, and may often be seen, in the north of England, following the 
plough. The nests are built on the ground, but are often floating on the water or 
supported by water-plants. The eggs are two or three in number, and vary greatly 
in their colour, some being greenish-blue with scarcely any spots, while others are 
of such a dark brown that the blackish markings can scarcely be seen. The length is 
about two to two-and-a-quarter inches. 
