34 the living animals OL THE WORLD 
The 
collected in 
y,iuto by li', h . Pi^gott'] 
STONE- 
CURLEW, OR 
THICK-KNEE 
The plumage so closely resembles the sandy soil on luhich the bird lives that concealment is easily 
ejf ected by crouching close to the ground 
wheeling about over the lakes 
in the parks. The black- 
headed gull receives its popular 
name on account of the fact 
that, like some terns and 
some other gulls, in the spring, 
the feathers of the head sud- 
denly acquire a sooty-black 
colour: all trace of this is 
lost in the winter, save for 
two patches, one behind each 
ear. 
egfcr.s of this bird are 
thousands each 
spring, and sold in London 
and other markets as plovers’, 
eggs. As many as 20,000 
have been taken in a season 
from the extensive gullery at 
Scoulton Mere, in Norfolk. 
Three or four eggs are laid in a nest of rushes, which is always placed on the ground in 
marshy and often inaccessible spots. 
The largest of the Gull Tribe is the Gre.\T Black-b.\CKED Gull, which is, furthermore, a 
common British bird ; indeed, it is frequently seen flying, together with the last-mentioned species, 
on the Thames, doing its best to get a full share of the tit-bits thrown by interested spectators 
from the various London bridges. Unlike the black-headed gull, it has no seasonal change 
of plumage, but is clad all the year round in the purest white, set off by a mantle of bluish 
black. The young of this bird has a quite distinct plumage of greyish brown, and hence has been 
described as a distinct species — the Grey Gull. 
This dress is gradually changed for the adult ^ 
plumage, but the process takes about three years. 
The Kittiwake is another of the common 
British gulls, breeding in thousands in favourable 
localities on the coasts. Its eggs are deposited 
on the narrowest and most inaccessible ledges 
of precipitous cliffs. This species sometimes 
falls a victim to the fashion of wearing feathers. 
“ At Clovelly,” writes Mr. Howard Saunders, 
“ there was a regular staff for preparing plumes ; 
and fishing-smacks, with extra boats and crews, 
used to commence their work of destruction at 
Lundy Island by daybreak on the ist of 
August. ... In many cases the wings were 
torn off the wounded birds before they were 
dead, the mangled victims being tossed back 
into the water.” And he has seen, he con- 
tinues, “ hundreds of young birds dead or 
dying of starvation in the nests, through the 
want of their parents’ care. ... It is well 
within the mark to say that at least 9,000 of 
these inoffensive birds were destroyed during 
the fortnight.” 
Photo by IV. F. Piggott] 
\_Leighton Bux.x.ard 
CURLEW 
So called on account of its note 
