THE GULL. 
855 
ocean. These ever-moving specks of white look like 
hundreds of bright blossoms: as each wave rises and 
falls, the sea, with its brilliant burden, seems a fairy 
sight indeed. 
Their ordinary breeding places are rocky ledges, 
pinnacles and stacks, high and low islands, or the flat 
sea-shore itself. Those species which are seen furthest 
inland nest also in morasses. Each species usually breeds 
by itself,—at least one always meets with a preponderating 
number of one kind in a breeding place. The larger 
sorts alone nest occasionally in single pairs, that is to 
say, perhaps two or three in one and the same spot. 
The nests are placed close to one another, thus affording 
the sitting dames ample opportunity to indulge in 
chit-chat. 
The nest itself is a rather inartistic structure, although 
it is never destitute of a lining of grass, haulm, and sea¬ 
weed. The eggs are from two to four in number: they 
are large and thick in the shell, of a dirty or pale greenish 
colour, more or less verging on brown, spotted with ash- 
gray or black. Both sexes incubate, though if the weather 
is hot they leave that duty for hours, to be fulfilled by the 
warm rays of the sun. The young are hatched in about 
three weeks, and are covered with a dress of thick down, 
generally spotted, and closely matching the surrounding 
sand in colour, thus rendering them safe from enemies, 
despite their helplessness. They soon leave the nest and 
run about the strand, watched and cared for by the parent 
birds. At the least alarm they speedily hide themselves 
under clumps of earth, plants, in holes, &c., and in cases 
of necessity seek safety in swimming. They grow 
rapidly,-—and no wonder,—for they devour an incredible 
amount of food, so much so that the old birds are 
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