LARUS FUSCUS, Linn. 
Lesser Black-backed Gull. 
Larus fuscus, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 55. 
Jlavipes, Meyer, Taschenb., tom. ii. p. 469. ■> ■ ** 
Laroides melanotus, harengorum, et fuscus, Brehm, Vbg. Deutschl., pp. 747, 748, 749. ^ ^ 
Leucus fuscus, Kaup, Naturl. Syst., p. 86. 
Glupeilarus fuscus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. ii. p. 220. 
Dominicanus fuscus, Bruch, Monogr. in Caban. Journ. fiir Orn. 1853, p. 100, sp. 6. 
The Lesser and the Greater Black-backed Gulls of the European avifauna are so precisely alike in form 
and colouring, that it is by the great difference in their size alone that they can be distinguished from each 
other. Generally speaking, these two nearly allied but really distinct species (for such, notwithstanding 
their similarity, every ornithologist considers them) frequent different rocks for the purpose of breeding ; and 
though in some localities they are associated, still there are others, and even countries, where one is found 
while the other is entirely absent ; for instance, the Lesser Black-backed Gull is not mentioned as occurring 
in Iceland, where the greater species is common ; and the same may be said with respect to America. As 
regards the coasts of the British Islands, it is to be found on every part of them at one season or another. 
It nests on many parts of the rocky shores of Ireland, as shown by that careful observer Thompson, who 
mentions the Gobbins, on the north coast, the Horn in Donegal, the coast of Connaught, the largest of the 
Sovereign Islands, near the harbour of Kinsale, the cliffs near Howth, in the county Dublin See. as places in 
which it is known to breed, and enumerates several other localities in which its nests have been found. In 
Scotland, according to Macgillivray, it is generally dispersed along the coasts, and permanently resident — 
but in some districts is of rare occurrence, and in the northern more so than in the southern, probably from 
their being more adapted for affording secure breeding-places. It is usually not uncommon, in the winter 
season, in the Firths of Tay, Forth, and Clyde, where very few, however, remain to breed. Mr. Selby 
mentions that himself and Sir William Jardine obtained the eggs and young of this species upon one of the 
islands of Loch Awe, and observed many colonies in Sutherlandshire, one upon Loch Shin, and another upon 
one of the islands of Loch Laighal. It breeds also in the Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland. In England it 
is numerous, at all seasons, on the Northumberland coast and those of the south-eastern, southern, and 
western counties, and also in Wales. Professor Nilsson states that it is common about the Baltic and on 
the coast of Norway ; and Mr. Wheelwright shot one example in Lapland. It also occurs in Holland, 
France, Belgium, Dalmatia, the islands of the Adriatic, and in Italy. Loche states that it is found in 
Algeria ; Messrs. Elwes and Buckley noticed it on the Black Sea ; the Rev. H. B. Tristram on the Lake of 
Galilee, in Palestine, and mentions that it is plentiful on the coast of Syria in winter ; Dr. von Heuglin 
states that he saw several pairs, throughout the year, on the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden ; Mr. Yarrell 
mentions that it is also found in Barbary and Egypt, and that specimens have been received from Trebizond, 
in Persia ; and, lastly, we know that it visits India, but appears to be rare in that country, since Dr. Jerdon 
says he only obtained a young bird far inland, near Jaulna, in the Deccan, but did not again meet with the 
species, and is not aware of its having been procured by any one else. 
“ The flight of this bird,” says Macgillivray, “ is peculiarly elegant, easy, and buoyant, with the wings 
considerably curved. Its ordinary cry is loud, mellow, and somewhat plaintive, and when a number join in 
emitting it, which they sometimes do when assembled for repose on an unfrequented beach or Island, may 
be heard at a great distance, and is then far from being unpleasant. It also emits occasionally a cackling or 
laughing cry, more mellow than that of the Greater Black-backed Gull. It searches for food on the open 
sea, in estuaries, on the beaches, and frequently on the land, sometimes flying to a great distance from the 
coast. Small fishes, Crustacea, echini, shell-fish, land-mollusca, and earth-worms are its habitual food ; I)ut 
it also eats of stranded fishes, and devours young birds. When shoals of herrings are in the bays, creeks, 
or estuaries, it may often be seen in great numbers, intermingled with other gulls ; but when reposing, 
whether on the sea or on the land, it generally keeps separate, in small flocks. 
“ In May they betake themselves to unfrequented islands, headlands, and sometimes to inland lakes, often 
in considerable numbers, and there remain until their young are able to fly, although they make extensive 
excursions around in search of food. Their nests, composed of withered grass and other herbage, are 
placed in hollows formed in the turf, or in superficial chinks of the rocks. The eggs, generally three in 
number, differ considerably in size and much in colour, but are usually about two inches and nine twelfths in 
