on in the summer that I could not attribute its actions to
any anxiety about either eggs or young. I am inclined to
think it is, on such occasions, taught by its instinct to
accompany a traveller for the sake of the insects disturbed
by his movements. During the summer months, the shingle, on
a sunny beach, is haunted by myriads of sluggish flies,
which rarely take wing unless thus disturbed. That the
Chimney Swallow often accompanies the traveller for this
object, I have no doubt; as I have seen them fly to and fro
before me, darting in among the swarming flies, and so intent
in their chase, as to pass within a few yards of my feet
every time they crossed my path.
SUB-FAMILY LARINÆ
THE LITTLE GULL
LARUS MINUTUS
_Summer_--head and neck black; lower part of the neck, tail,
all the under plumage, white; upper plumage pale ash-grey;
primaries white at the end; bill reddish brown; irides dark;
legs vermilion. _Winter_--forehead, front and sides of the neck
white; nape and cheeks white, streaked with greyish black.
Length eleven inches.
This, the smallest of the Gulls, comes sometimes in numbers to the
British coast. It is said to be remarkably active and graceful in its
movements through the air, and to associate with Terns. Its food
consists of marine insects and small fish. Its breeding-place and eggs
are unknown. As a rule it leaves us in September or early in October.
THE BROWN-HEADED GULL
LARUS RIDIBUNDUS
_Summer_--head and upper part of the neck deep brown; lower
part of the neck and all the under plumage white, slightly
tinged with rose; upper plumage bluish ash; primaries white,
edged with ash, and broadly tipped with black; irides brown;
bill and feet red, with a purple tinge. In _winter_ the head
and neck are white; bill and feet bright vermilion. In _young
birds_ the hood is pale brown; the upper plumage dark brown,
mottled at the edges of the feathers with yellowish; bill livid
at the base, the tip black; feet yellowish. Length seventeen
inches. Eggs olive, spotted with brown and dusky.
Black-headed, Blackcap, Brown-headed, Red-legged, and Pewit, are all
common distinctive names of this Gull, to which may be added that of
Laughing Gull. The latter name is, indeed, often given to the next
species, a rare bird, and might with equal propriety be applied to
several other species, whose harsh cry resembles a laugh. The
systematic name, _ridibundus_, which has the same meaning, is by
general consent confined to this. The reader, therefore, must bear in
mind that though the term _ridibundus_ will bear no translation but
'laughing', the name of the Laughing Gull is _Larus atricapilla_,
which can mean only 'Black-headed Gull'; a paradoxical statement,
perhaps, but one which it is necessary to make, or the young student
will probably fall into error.
Brown-headed Gull is the most appropriate of all the above names, at
least in summer, for at this period both male and female are best
distinguished by the deep brown colour of the head and upper part of
the neck.
This is one of the most frequent of the Gulls, to be sought for in the
breeding season not on the rocky shore among cliffs, but on low flat
salt marshes on the coast and in fresh-water marshes far inland. Early
in spring large numbers of Brown-headed Gulls repair to their
traditional breeding-grounds and wander over the adjoining country in
search of food, which consists of worms and grubs. From the assiduity
with which they resort to arable land and follow the plough, they have
been called Sea Crows. In April and May they make their simple
preparations for laying their eggs by trampling down the broken tops
of reeds and sedges, and so forming a slight concavity. The number of
eggs in each nest is generally three, and as a large number of birds
often resort to the same spot, the collecting of these eggs becomes an
occupation of importance. By some persons they are considered a
delicacy, and, with the eggs of the Redshank, are substituted for
Plovers' eggs; but to a fastidious palate they are not acceptable, and
far inferior to an egg from the poultry yard. Willughby describes a
colony of Blackcaps on a small island in a marsh or fish pond, in the
county of Stafford, distant at least thirty miles from the sea. He
says that when the young birds had attained their full size, it was
the custom to drive them from the island into nets disposed along the
shore of the lake. The captured birds were fattened on meat and
garbage, and sold for about fourpence or fivepence each (a goodly
price in those days, 1676). The average number captured every year was
1200, returning to the proprietor an income of about £15. In _The
Catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds_, it is stated that precisely
the same sum is paid for the privilege of collecting the eggs from
Scoulton Mere, in Norfolk. Towards the end of July, when the young are
fully fledged, all the birds, old and young, repair to the sea, and
scatter themselves in small flocks to all parts of the coast,
preferring a low sandy shore, or the mouth of a tidal river, as the
Thames and the Clyde, where they are of common occurrence. They also
accompany shoals of herrings and other small fish, often congregating
with other species in countless numbers.
Before winter the distinctive character afforded by the brown plumage
of the head and neck has entirely disappeared. These parts are now of
a pure white, and the red legs afford the best distinguishing feature.
Persons residing on the coast, who are familiarly acquainted with the
habits of the bird, but are unaware of the periodical change in its
colour, consider the two forms of the bird as distinct species. Thus I
have received from a marsh on the coast of Norfolk the eggs of the
'Black-headed Gull', and have had the same bird pointed out to me in
winter as the 'Red-legged Pigeon-Mow' (Mew). One flock of about thirty
thus pointed out to me presented a very pretty sight. They had
detected either a shoal of small fishes, or a collection of dead
animal matter floating among the breakers, and were feeding with
singular activity.
THE COMMON GULL
LARUS CÁNUS
In _spring_ the head and neck of this species are white and the
mantle is a pale grey, a little darker in _summer_, the head,
tail and under parts white; primaries comparatively long, and
the three outer pairs dull black on the lower portions, with
large white 'mirrors' near the tips in mature birds--in the
rest the predominant tone is a pale grey, the black only
forming a bar, and all but the first primary broadly tipped
with white; bill a rich yellow towards the point; legs and feet
greenish yellow in _summer_, darker in _winter_. In _winter_
the head and neck are streaked and spotted with ash-brown.
Length eighteen inches.
This is a species resident in Great Britain, but it is not known to
breed south of the Solway. It nests, however, in the west of Ireland;
grassy sides and islands of lochs or slopes that face the sea, not far
often above high-water, are its favourite resorts, where it breeds in
colonies, the nest of sea-weeds, heather and dry grass being fairly
large. In it will be, as a rule, three eggs, an olive-brown, spotted
and streaked with a blackish tone; but pale blue, light green and
straw-coloured varieties are found often. This Gull is the first to
seek the shore on the approach of 'coarse' weather; and it may often
be studied in the fields as it picks up grubs among the furrows in the
company of Rooks, or by the town-tied Cockney, from his own standpoint
of Westminster Bridge.
The 'Blue Maa', as this species is called in the north, breeds in
abundance on the Scottish coasts as well as the moors of the
fresh-water lochs, including the Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands. The
Black-headed Gull is generally the Common Gull of the peasantry in
Ireland, but the underside of the wing in the young of the Common Gull
is mottled with brown, whereas it is greyish-white in the Black-headed
species.
Gulls are, moreover, of material service, for they perform for the
surface of the sea the same office which crustaceous animals do for
its depths. Most of their time is spent in either flying or swimming
about (they are no divers) in quest of food, which is of that nature
that, if suffered to accumulate, more than one of our senses would be
offended. All animal matter which, when life is extinct, rises to the
surface, it is their especial province to clear away. To perform this
necessary work, they have need of a quick eye and a voracious
appetite. That they have the former in an eminent degree, any one may
convince himself who, when taking a sea voyage, sees the vessel
followed, as he often will, by a flock of Gulls. Let him fling
overboard, into the foaming track of the ship, where his own eye can
distinguish nothing, ever so small a portion of bread or other kind of
food. That some one individual at least among the flock will have seen
it fall and be able to descry it is certain; now, probably, a general
scramble will ensue, and the prize will be secured by the swiftest.
Having tried this several times with the same result, let him throw
over, instead of meat or bread, a bit of wood. Not a bird will come
near even to examine it. I have often tried this experiment, and have
met with but one result. To prove that the Gull is capable of
consuming a large quantity of food, as well as quick-sighted, a single
anecdote will suffice:--"A man who was shooting on the banks of the
river Yare, seeing something, which had the appearance of an eel
half-swallowed, hanging from the mouth of a Gull which was flying
overhead, fired at the bird, and on taking it up, found, not an eel,
but--five tallow candles attached to a piece of thread, to the other
end of which was fastened a sixth, the latter having been _almost
entirely swallowed_. The candles were about twelve inches in length,
with cotton wicks, such as are used on board the fishing boats, from
the deck of which he had probably taken them". The Gull, then, is not
choice in its diet; it is, in fact, omnivorous. It skims the deep for
dead animal matter, follows the ship for offal thrown overboard, paces
the shore in quest of molluscs and marine insects, flies inland in
stormy weather (a specimen was once brought me which had been shot in
Hertfordshire, twenty miles from the nearest navigable river) in
winter and spring, and follows the plough along with Rooks and
Jackdaws, alights on fields which have been manured with decomposed
fish, resorts to marshes for frogs and worms, and after an inundation
repairs to the lately submersed ground, and picks up the small
quadrupeds which have been drowned. It usually flies at no great
elevation above the water, but when repairing inland and returning it
frequently rises to a very great height.
THE HERRING GULL
LARUS ARGENTÁTUS
Head and neck white, streaked in summer with light brown; tail
and lower parts white; back and wings bluish ash; primaries
dusky, passing into black, the shafts black and extremities
white; secondaries edged and tipped with white; bill, orbits,
and irides, yellow; feet flesh-colour. In _young birds_ the
white is mostly replaced by dark grey, mottled with brown;
wings and tail brown, the latter reddish yellow towards the
end; bill dusky; irides, orbits, and feet, brown. Length
twenty-three inches. Eggs olive-brown, spotted with dark brown
and dusky.
If, among a flock of Common Gulls, seen either following a vessel at
sea or attending on the movements of a shoal of fish, one be observed
which greatly surpasses the rest in size, it will probably be this
species, provided that it have a grey and not a black back. In the
latter case it may either be the Great or Lesser Black-backed Gull.
The Herring Gull is a large and powerful bird, thoroughly competent to
dispose of a herring or even a more bulky fish. It is common on most
parts of the British coast, and remains with us all the year, building
its nest on steep cliffs, or rocky islands. In the south of England it
is very abundant, and is more frequently seen inland, in
newly-ploughed fields, than any other species. Like the other Gulls,
it may easily be tamed if taken young; and, when kept in a garden,
earns its maintenance by keeping down slugs and other vermin.
THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
LARUS FUSCUS
Wings reaching two inches beyond the tail; head and neck white,
streaked (in _winter_) with brown; lower parts pure white; rest
of the upper plumage blackish grey; primaries black, the first
two with an oval white spot near the tip; secondaries and
scapulars tipped with white; bill, irides, and feet, yellow;
tarsus two and a quarter inches long; orbits red. In _young
birds_ the white plumage is mostly replaced by grey mottled
with brown, and the black by dusky edged with yellowish; the
primaries have no white spots, and the bill is dusky. Length
twenty-three inches. Eggs brownish grey, spotted with brown
and black.
This is a generally diffused species, occurring in considerable
numbers, not only on various parts of our coast, but in the Baltic,
the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, and the northern parts
of America. It repairs in spring either to rocky islands, steep
cliffs, or sometimes to inland lakes, where it builds a rather large
nest of tufts of grass, and lays two or three eggs. When the young are
hatched it is very impatient of having its stronghold invaded, and
resents molestation by darting at the head of the intruder. The Lesser
Black-backed Gull breeds habitually on many parts of the coast,
especially such as are frequented by the Herring Gull. Its food and
habits are much the same as those of the Common Gull. In the South of
England, the nesting-places are confined to Devon and Cornwall, but
there are colonies on the Farne Islands, the Isle of Man and Wales.
THE GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL
LARUS MARÍNUS
Wings extending but little beyond the tail; legs pale
flesh-colour. Length thirty inches; breadth about five feet
nine inches. In most other respects resembling the Lesser
Black-backed Gull. Eggs stone-buff, blotched and spotted with
dusky brown.
Of the two Black-backed Gulls, the Greater, or 'Cobb', is by far the
less frequent on our coasts, and when seen generally occurs in pairs.
It remains with us all the year, but is most frequent in the south
during winter. In spring, Great Black-backed Gulls for the most part
withdraw to cliffs and rocky islands far north, as, for instance, the
Orkneys and Hebrides, where they are numerous, a few only nesting
southwards. Unlike most other Gulls, birds of this species are
unsociable even in the breeding season. They build their nests on the
most inaccessible parts of the rocks, and reserve the situation
entirely to themselves, not even permitting birds of their own species
or any other intruders to settle there. They are exceedingly wary, and
give notice of the approach of danger to other animals. Consequently,
they are held in dislike by the gunner, whether in pursuit of
sea-birds or seals. Like the rest of the Gulls, they are omnivorous,
but are, more than any others, addicted to carrion, in quest of which
they often wander inland; hence, they are sometimes called Carrion
Gulls. 'If a floating prize presents itself', says Mr. St. John, 'such
as the remains of a large fish or dead bird, it is soon discovered by
one of the large Gulls, who is not, however, allowed to enjoy his
prize alone, for every one of his fellows within sight joins in
tearing it to pieces. When I have winged a Duck, and it has escaped
and gone out to sea, I have frequently seen it attacked, and devoured
almost alive, by these birds.'
Stations occur here and there on the coast of England in which the
Great Black-backed Gull builds. It sometimes resorts to a marsh at the
breeding season, but retains its habit of driving away all intruders.
Its eggs are prized as dainties, being thought to resemble Plovers'
eggs.
GLAUCOUS GULL, OR BURGOMASTER
LARUS GLAUCUS
General plumage white; back and wings bluish grey; tail and
terminal portion of the quills white; bill strong, yellow; legs
livid flesh-colour. _Young_ mottled with white, grey, and light
brown; shafts of the quills white; in other respects like the
last, but the bill is longer and stouter. Length about
twenty-nine inches; breadth five feet two inches. Eggs as in
the last, but of a greener hue.
The Glaucous Gull, a large, handsome, and powerful bird, resembles in
many of its habits the species last described, but it has not been
known to breed in even the most northerly of the British Isles. It
pays occasional visits to our shores in winter. A few specimens only
have been shot in the southern portion of the island, and no large
number in Scotland; but in the neighbourhood of the whale fishery it
is common enough. It is very voracious, and not only eats fish,
whether dead or alive, and shares with the whale-fisher in his booty,
but pursues other sea-fowl, compels them to disgorge their prey, robs
them of their eggs, and, if they resist, kills and devours them.[52]
In short, it is the very tyrant of the Arctic Ocean. Its predatory
habits were noticed by the early navigators in these waters, who gave
it the name of Burgomaster; but as no accurate description of the bird
was brought home, and as some of our other large Gulls are open to a
charge of similar rapacity, the name was naturally transferred by
Willughby to another species, which he calls the Wagel (probably the
Great Black-backed Gull in immature plumage). This was in 1676. A
hundred years later Brunnich gave it the name of Glaucous Gull; but it
is still called Burgomaster by the Dutch, and by Arctic voyagers
generally.
Mr. St. John gives the name of Wagel to the Great Grey Gull.
[52] A specimen shot in Norfolk was found to contain a
full-grown Golden Plover entire.
THE KITTIWAKE GULL
RISSA TRIDACTYLA
Hind toe represented by a small knob without a claw. _Summer
plumage_--head and neck pale bluish ash, a few fine dusky
streaks before the eyes; forehead, region of the eyes, and all
the under parts, pure white; upper plumage bluish ash; first
primary with the outer web black, four first tipped with black,
two or three of them ending in a small white spot, fifth having
the tip white bordered with black; bill greenish yellow; orbits
red; irides brown; feet dark olive-brown. In _winter_, the
whole of the head and neck is white. _Young birds_ have the
head white, mottled with grey and dusky; upper feathers tipped
with brown; bend and upper edge of the wing black; primaries
black; tail black, towards the end tipped with white; bill,
orbits, and irides, black; feet pale brown. Length fifteen and
a half inches. Eggs stone-colour, spotted with grey and two
shades of brown.
The Kittiwake Gull takes its name from the cry with which in the
breeding season it assails any intruder on its domain. It is a
beautiful bird, especially in its variegated immature plumage,
remarkable for its delicacy of colouring and the easy grace of its
flight, frequenting high cliffs in summer, while engaged in the duties
of incubation, and at all other times preferring the open sea to
estuaries, and feeding on such small fish as swim near the surface. It
is very abundant in the Arctic regions of both hemispheres during
summer, and extends its southern limits so far as to include the
British Isles, but is most numerous in the north. Its nest, built of
sea-weed or bents, is placed high up in the face of a precipitous
cliff, generally on a narrow ledge, and in close proximity with others
belonging to birds of the same species. It contains three eggs, and
the young birds remain in their airy nest until fully fledged, when,
as well as their parents, they disperse over the neighbouring seas,
rarely venturing either to perch on land or fly over it. The young of
the Kittiwake, previous to its first moult, is sometimes called the
Tarrock. Colonel Irby says that the Kittiwake is a partially resident
species. Marked birds have been known to follow vessels across the
North Atlantic.
[Illustration:
Herring Gull.
Little Gull, _imm._
Kittiwake [M]
Brown-headed Gull [F]
[_face p. 289._]]
[Illustration:
Twist Tailed or Pomatorhine Skua
Richardson's Skua
Great Shearwater
Great Skua]
SUB-FAMILY STERCORARIINÆ (ROBBER GULLS)
THE GREAT SKUA
STERCORARIUS CATARRHÁCTES
Upper plumage brown, of several shades; shafts of the quills,
basal half of the primaries, and shafts of the tail-feathers,
white; under, reddish grey, tinged with brown; two central
tail-feathers but slightly elongated, not tapering; tarsus two
and a half inches long, somewhat rough at the back. Length
twenty-five inches. Eggs olive-brown, blotched with brown.
The Skuas, called also Skua Gulls, are sufficiently distinguished from
the true Gulls by their strong hooked bills and talons, and by the
habits of daring and voracity founded on these characters. The
present species, though called common, is only to be so considered in
high latitudes; for it is very rarely seen on the coasts of England,
and has become scarce even in the Shetland Islands, where it was at
one time frequent. Mr. Dunn[53] says: "I never saw this bird in
Orkney, and there are only three places in Shetland where it
breeds--viz. Foula, Rona's Hill, and the Isle of Mist; in the latter
place it is by no means numerous, and is strictly preserved by the
landlords, on whose property it may have settled, from a superstition
that it will defend their flocks from the attacks of the Eagle. That
it will attack the Eagle if he approaches their nests is a fact I have
witnessed: I once saw a pair completely beat off a large Eagle from
their breeding-place, on Rona's Hill. The flight of the Skua is
stronger and more rapid than that of any other Gull. It is a great
favourite with the fishermen, frequently accompanying their boats to
the fishing-ground, or Haaf, which they consider a lucky omen; and in
return for its attendance, they give it the refuse of the fish which
are caught. The Skua Gull does not associate in groups; and it is
seldom that more than a pair are seen together. During the breeding
season it is highly courageous; and will strike furiously at, and will
even pursue, any one who may happen to approach its nest, which is
constructed among the heath or moss; the female laying two eggs."
Some authors state that the Common Skua obtains its livelihood by
levying contributions on the White Gulls, compelling them to disgorge
their prey, and catching it before it reaches the water; but Dr.
Edmonston, who had great opportunities of watching the habits of these
birds, says that they do not adopt the practises correctly attributed
to the Arctic Gull, or Richardson's Skua. The voice of the Common Skua
is said to resemble that of a young Gull, being sharp and shrill; and
it is from the resemblance of its cry to that of the word Skua, or
Skui, that it obtains its popular name. That it is remarkably
courageous and daring, all accounts agree. Mr. Low says that, when the
inhabitants are looking after their sheep on the hills, the Skua often
attacks them in such a manner that they are obliged to defend
themselves with their cudgels held above their heads, on which it
often kills itself; and Captain Vetch, In the _Memoirs of the
Wernerian Society_, says that it not only drives away Ravens and
Eagles, but that the larger quadrupeds, such as horses and sheep,
which venture near its nest, are immediately put to flight. Its
northern name is Bonxie.
[53] _Ornithologist's Guide to Orkney and Shetland_, p. 112.
TWIST-TAILED OR POMATORHINE SKUA
STERCORARIUS POMATORHINUS
Upper plumage uniform dark brown; feathers of the nape long,
tapering lustrous; sides of the face and under plumage white; a
collar of brown spots on the breast, and similar spots on the
flanks; shafts of the quills and tail-feathers white, except at
the tip; two central tail-feathers projecting three inches, not
tapering; tarsus two inches long, rough at the back, with
projecting scales. Length twenty-one inches. _Young
birds_--upper plumage dusky brown, mottled with reddish yellow;
under, yellowish white, thickly set with brown spots and bars.
Eggs ash-green, spotted with dusky.