BLACK-nEADED GULL. 
293 
lower part of the neck and the under plumage 
assumes a slight rosy tint, but the lower part of 
the back and tail remain of a pure white ; the bill 
becomes of an arterial blood-red colour, and the 
legs and toes acquire an additional intensity of 
hue.”* In winter the black of the head is lost and 
becomes white, marked on the “ anterior angle of 
the eye, ear-coverts, nape, and back part of the 
neck with deep blackish grey.” In the first plu- 
mage there is a considerable mixture of elove-brown 
with the upper plumage, and the tail is terminated 
by a broad black bar. 
The Black-headed Gull, Larus ridibundus, 
Linn. — La mouette rieuse , ou d Capuchin Irun, 
Temm. — Black-headed Gull, Bed-legged or Laugh- 
ing Gull, of British authors. — This is the most com- 
mon and best known species of all the British Black- 
headed Gulls, being generally distributed over Great 
Britain and Ireland, and assembling in large colonies 
to breed in marshes or reedy lakes ; in some parts 
it is protected, and the benefit of collecting the eggs 
is let. Early in spring, before taking up their breed- 
ing stations, and before having attained the black 
head, these gulls assemble in small parties during 
the day, often following the plough, but apparently 
returning for a time to the coast at night. The 
black head is assumed in the course of a week, 
the change of colour being extremely rapid, and 
* Selby. 
