206 
British Birds. 
it impossible to make any attempt to express them in words. Some of the notes 
are quite musical, while others consist of a harsh scream. The nest is seldom 
placed at any height on the rocks, but generally at a low level, near the shore, a 
scanty collection of dead grass or sea-weed forming the nests in a little patch of 
grass between the low-lying rocks. Sometimes they are found on the shores of 
inland fresh-water lakes, and the Common Gull has been also known to utilize the 
deserted nest of a Crow or other bird in a tree. The eggs are three in number and 
vary considerably in ground-colour, but the markings are like those of other Gulls. 
This is a large species of Gull with a white head and tail, and 
THE GLAUCOUS • ■ T . • 
is especially distinguished by its white primaries. It is a winter 
, r . , visitor to Great Britain and occurs mostly in the northern parts 
[Lams hyperboreus.) J r 
of our area. It is found in the Arctic regions of both Hemis- 
pheres during the breeding season, and migrates south in winter. In habits the 
species resembles the Great Black-backed Gull, and like that bird is a great robber, 
feeding on fish, Crustacea and also on young birds, as well as on offal or anything 
it can pick up. The nest is a depression in the sand, lined with sea-weed, and the 
eggs, which are three in number, have no especial characteristic to distinguish them 
from the eggs of other Gulls, and they look like large editions of eggs of the Lesser 
Black-backed Gull. 
THE ICELAND 
GULL. 
(Lams leucopterus.) 
See p. 204. 
Sea. 
The length is about three inches. 
This species has white quills like the Glaucous Gull, but is 
smaller (wing 16-5 inches). It visits Great Britain in the winter, 
but occurs principally off the coasts of Scotland, occasionally in 
some numbers. It nests in Greenland, and wanders south in 
winter to Great Britain and the shores of Norway and the Baltic 
In its habits it is more like the Herring-Gull than the Great Black-backed 
Gull, and is not so active a bird as the latter. The nest is a depression in the 
