examined, one or two only had small pieces of sea-weed
mixed with the other materials. They lay two or three eggs,
varying in their \ shades of colour from a dark olive-brown tq
a light drab, thickly spotted with ash-grey, and two shades
of brown ;, the length of the egg,about two inches ten lines,
by brie inch and eleven lines in breadth ~by.fl?‘S in.«.].
After they have begun to sit, they become^very bold 'in the
defence of their eggs; whilst among them, I was amused
with one, near th<b nest of which T twas sitting; it, retired to,
a certain distance» to give it frilbfxirce in it® attaek, and then
made a stoop'at iriy head, coming within'two^omthree yards
of me; this it continued to do, 'incessantly* till I left it.*
Mr. Darling [father of the, celebrated Grace Darlin^]y4hej
keeper" of the light-house on the island, ,informs me , that an
old woman'who was in the habit-of gathering their eggs,,had
her bonnet almo'st torn to pieces; it'being perforated throughout
by their bills.” This species, is later* in-laying'than ’the
#> Herring Gull, fresh eggs-being found well into June;' Mr,
Selby observes; “ that the young, upon exclusion, are>co*vered
with a parti-coloured down of grey and browrif-;, but thigj is
rapidly hidden by the growth of the regular feathers,, and,in
a month or five-weeks They are able-to take'wing.” r-The
young, birds rot former seasons, while yet immature in plumage
and incapable of breeding from want of sufficient ■ age,
are not permitted.by the adult arid breeding bij’ds/to iphabjt;
the breeding-statioris during; theirrbr<ee,dingr4e,ason, but rare
driven away ltd’other localities.
Small surface-swimming fishes, upon which1 theses-Mrds
■ precipitate themselves from the air, and animal, substances
dealing/ or brought le* shore by-thd tide;-forria* they': mOsti;
usual food, but -bet-h old and young are seen occasionally, to
go inland from the.c.oa§,t;to, search moist pastures,, or[receritly-
ploughed fields, fomwofms, insets,,and their grubs.- -Mr.
T. E; Buckley.says o-ftthis species iri^utberlaiidsbirp, that;
it eats-a-. great -deal’ of.grain in spring months, as may-be
seen .hy a visit to the,localities in wjpdeh it breeds* for it casts
* The ^Editor had a ^fihir'expeiTCnfceilft'&,tcff''feLai)iJ/and wab’ 6Rlaged/to
strike a bird several blows’with the ramrod oMtik'gun.hefore .it would. desi-st..;
Up the husks in ‘ quids ’ as Rooks do. Fish and small crabs
are brought up from the shore, and on two’ occasions these
birds Jobbed a Goose-s nest which Mr. Buckley was anxious
to obtain. As- it is more -of an inland breeder than the
Herring Gull,' it is especially injurious to the eggs and young
of moorland game and Waterfowl, and on the coast it rivals
its congener- in its/- depredations on the eggs- of Guillemot»
and other-sea-birds.* .
| A bird of-this species, kept in confinement, is thus spoken
of by the-owner £ He has the full range ofailarge garden,
bis escape -being only prevented by having his wing cu t; :hut
he ‘coristantly prefers the 'neighbourhood of a large network1
cage,-the residence of a pair qf-silver pheasants >-nqt very
congenial companions, one would suppose/,-for a. roamer of
the ocean. dBut such is the- fondness of almost all animated
beings for-society‘of some kind or other, that, *when that
of 'their own ^species i'S’-out of reach, they will often attach
themselves'to- creatures-of r a very different character. Near
hie gallinaceous friends ourfGull always sfeep^.selcfom stray-
ingto'any considerable distanced though he seems to enjoy,;
at times,'using" lifewingsto the utmost-© f his ability^ half
flying, half running,-in all dsrectiqh-Sj apparently for mere
amusement^ He - yery tame,-and will, ufieri
hungry, -foiloW .any bffthe family about-the garden uttering a
peculiar cry, -which always means that he is quite ready for
a meal. Indeed, holm's a most voracious appetite, and the
capacity of his throat is truly astonishing f he haB-repeatedly1
swallo-#ed?qUite whole, withheak, claws and feather», various
Small birds‘whiffifhad been? shot and thrown to him. Mice,
or-other small quadrupeds!* appear equally to suit his taste;
and, though" he has no objecfionjto butcheris meat, - he seems,
rather- Vo^-prefer '-small animals, -^notwithstanding > the'- .hair/
feathers, :-&c.-which sometimes givfe him not-a'little trouble
fo dispose erf satisfactorily. ?The-way in which he remedies
this-difficulty'suggested-itself the firsf4iihe£ja bird was.given.
* Mr. Abel -Chapman informs the Ed^fcOriibhatf he^fopnd ,a Lesser Black-hacked,
(xirll floating dead in one of the looghs at Elsdon, choked bjr a Wild .Duck’s egg
which had* 'stuck in’ its guTfdt1® '