6 7 
which is most Commonly to be seen of the Gull tribe. But this last 
name has been given by ornithologists to Larus canus, a com- 
paratively rare bird which is to be observed only on our remoter 
coasts, and out-lying isles, and is not very plentiful even there. The 
Black-headed Gull is to be seen on our tidal rivers, feeding at such 
points as where the sewage of our towns enters, and in winter it 
haunts the neighbourhood of our riverside towns, where it has 
become very tame of late years, frequenting at that season even such 
busy places as the Thames Embankment, where it is fed by the 
benevolent. In spring this bird resorts to marshy moors and lochs 
where it breeds, usually in colonies, making a nest of rushes and 
grasses sufficiently high to raise its eggs clear of the water. The 
eggs, two, three, or rarely four in number, are variable in colour : 
a common type is darkish green in ground colour, spotted and 
blotched with black and brown. This bird is a good friend to man, 
and in spring and autumn may be seen following the plough, picking 
up grubs and worms as they are upturned, and by the contrast of 
the silver white of its plumage against the dark earth ever providing 
a pleasing picture. 
Other photographs of adult Black-headed Gulls will be found on 
Pages 45 and 46 of the First Series and on Page 56 of the Second 
Series of Wild Birds at Home. For another fine series of photo- 
graphs of this bird, see Pages 98, 99, and 114 of Nature Pictures 
(Gowans & Gray, Ltd., 7/6 net). 
Heron, Common (Pages 57-59). — The Heron is resident with 
ns throughout the year, though it changes its quarters according to 
the season. In the autumn months, when the trout run up to 
spawn in the head-water of the streams, the Heron follows them to 
the high moorland where these rise. It may frequently be seen in 
the winter months on the shores of our rivers and estuaries. It 
measures some 30 inches in length, has a yellow bill fully 5 inches 
long, and long legs of a dull yellowish colour. Its plumage is light 
ashy-grey, the crown of head crested, white in the centre, with a 
band of black on each side, ending in the crest in two drooping 
black plumes. The face and neck are white, streaked with black, 
with drooping plumes of narrow white feathers on foreneck and 
chest. The under parts are white. 
This bird was the favourite quarry in olden times of the falconer 
and was able, so far, to defend itself by means of its powerful bill 
against an attack of the Falcon which, however, was usually 
successful in the end, by reason of its superior power of flight 
enabling it to rise above the Heron and in that position to strike it 
partly from behind and thus beyond the range of the bayonet-like 
bill. It is probable that at one time the Heron nested in marshes, 
and it is indeed an unlikely bird to use its present site, which is 
usually the top of a high tree, where it builds a large nest some 
four feet in diameter. 
Herons breed in colonies, which are not infrequent, but which 
usually occur in private grounds where the birds meet with some 
measure of protection. A visit to a Heronry is productive of much 
interest, and the peculiar flight of the bird made with legs extended 
straight behind it, and the neck drawn back and resting between 
the shoulders, is very similar to the pictures of Storks in flight so 
common in Japanese art. The wings of the Heron are long 
