BRITISH GULLS. 
The Skua is a large, fierce, and powerful bird, tyrannizing in a shameful manner 
over its weaker relations, and robbing them without mercy. It feeds mostly on 
fish, but prefers taking advantage of the labours of others to working honestly for 
its own living. As the lesser Gulls are busily fishing, the Skuas hover about the 
spot, and as soon as a poor Gull has caught a fish, and is going off to his family, 
down comes the Skua upon him with threatening beak and rushing wings, and 
when the victim drops his burden, to escape with greater facility, the Skua darts 
after the falling fish, and snaps it up before it reaches the water. It also eats 
eggs and the smaller birds, a propensity which is shared by other Gulls than the 
Skua. 
The common Gull is too familiar to need much description, as it is well known 
to all who have visited the seashore, or the mouth of any of our larger rivers. 
It. is a bold bird, caring little for man, and even following a steamer so closely 
that the gleam of its eyes can be plainly seen. It can easily be tamed, and is a 
rather useful bird in a garden, destroying vermin of various kinds, and occasion- 
ally killing and eating any small bird that may incautiously venture within reach 
of the strong bill, Cheese seems to be an acknowledged dainty with these birds, 
which have often been known to contract so great an affection for the place of 
their captivity as to return to it voluntarily, and even to introduce a mate to the 
well-remembered hospitalities. 
The Great Black-backed Gull is a very fine bird, not very plentiful on our 
coasts, but spread over the greater part of the British shores. 
This bird prefers low-lying and marshy lands, and is found on the flat shores of 
Kent and Essex at the mouth of the Thames, where it is popularly known under 
the name of the Cob. It is very plentiful on the shores of Sweden and Norway, 
and on some of the islands of Shetland and Orkney it breeds in abundance,, 
the eggs being highly valued on account of their rich flavour and their large size. 
The pretty Kittiwake Gull is tolerably plentiful on many of our shores, and * 
breeds upon the rocky portions of the coast. Owing to the diversity of its plu- 
mage according to the age, the KiKwake has been called by several names ; 
“Tarrock” being the best known and belonging to the bird while young. The 
name of the Kittiwake is given in allusion to its cry, which bears some resemblance 
to that word rather slowly pronounced. The nest of the Kittiwake is made of 
seaweed, and placed on narrow ledges of rock at a great elevation. The nests 
are placed in close proximity to each other, and generally contain three eggs of _a 
brownish olive/covered with spots of grey and brown. 
The head and neck of the Kittiwake are white, the upper parts of the body 
silvery grey, the wings being diversified with a little black and much white The 
under surface is pure wdiite. 
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