7/2 TW&LV& factions,

THE

BRITISHBIRD

BOOK

2OO PLATE S IN COLOUR AND
NUMEROUS PHOTOGRAPHS,

EDITED BY

FB KIRKMAN BAQXON

C E 755 273

J. L. BONHOTE
WILLIAM FARREN
W. R. OGILVIE GRANT
F. C. R. JOURDAIN
W. P. PYGRAFT
EDMUND SELOUS
MISS E. L. TURNER
A. L. THOMSON
AND THE EDITOR

MISS W. AUSTEN
G. E. COLLINS
H. GRONVOLD
G. E. LODGE
A. W. SEABY
AND OTHERS

A COMPLETE 'WORK ON THE BIRDS/ NESTS
AND EGGS OF GREAT BRITAIN

an

d

T' C' &'E' C' (JACK,

BIOLOGY

UBRARf

6

oat

THE AUKS

[ORDER: Charadriiformes. FAMILY: Alcidce]
PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES

[F. C. R. JOURDAKT. F. B. KIRKMAN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON]

RAZORBILL [Alca torda Linnseus. RazorbiUed murre, marrot, auk, willock,
razorbilled-auk. French, pingouin commun ; German, Tord-Alk ; Italian,
gazza marina, tuffetto],

1 . Description.— The adult razorbill may be distinguished at once by the deep,
grooved beak, marked with white lines, and the white line running from the beak
to the eye. (PI. 95.) Length 17 in. [431-79 mm.]. The sexes are alike. In summer
the upper parts are black with a greenish gloss, save the throat and fore-neck, which
are of a deep, velvety, brown hue. The secondaries are tipped with white, and the
lower throat and rest of the under parts are white, while a narrow, sharply defined
line of white runs from the base of the beak to the eye, and a narrow, semicircular
line of white, in a deep groove, crosses the beak, which otherwise is black, and is
bounded behind by a raised fillet. Two shallow grooves run across the beak in
front of the white groove. In winter the sides of the head, the throat, and fore-neck
are white, the rest of the plumage is as in summer, but lacks the greenish gloss.
The white line from the beak to the eye is only barely traceable, and the fillet round
the base of the beak is wanting. The iris is hazel, and the legs and feet are blackish
or blackish brown. The young in its first (protoptyle) down plumage has the head,
neck, and under parts dull buffy white, the back dark brown, darkest on the rump.
The second (mesoptyle) dress is coloured like that of the adult in summer, but
rather browner. The beak is relatively much smaller, and lacks the characteristic
grooves and white markings, but the white line from the beak to the eye is well
defined. By the autumn the young have come to resemble the adult in winter
dress, but may be distinguished by the beak which lacks the grooves, thoilgh:.thj&.
white line from the beak to the eye is fairly distinct, [w. p. p.] ...'"/

2. Distribution. — During the breeding season this species, like the gttifl&het;'
is found breeding on most of the rock-bound coasts and islets in our group, although

VOL. III. A

746313

2 THE AUKS

in smaller numbers. As a rule, its breeding-places are also higher up on the cliffs
than those of the kittiwake, below those of the puffin, and often overlapping
the vertical range of the guillemot. Outside the British Isles it also breeds
in the Faeroes and Iceland, and along the Norwegian coast from Stavanger Fjord
northward to the North Cape (Collett), east of the Varanger Fjord in Russian
Lapland (Pearson and Pleske), and perhaps also on the Murman coast, while,
according to Buturlin, it is found in the Kola Peninsula and the White Sea to
Onega Bay. Southward it is found on the coasts of Brittany, as well as on
Bornholm, Helgoland, Gotland, and other localities in the Baltic, even in the Gulf
of Bothnia and along the coast of Finland. On the west side of the Atlantic it is
found from 73° N. on the west coast of Greenland along the coast of Labrador
south to Newfoundland and the Bay of Fundy. Its winter range extends from the
North Sea and English Channel southward to the Bay of Biscay and the Straits of
Gibraltar, while in the Mediterranean it has occurred as far east as the Adriatic
Sea and Malta. [F. c. B. j.]

3. Migration. — Resident, in that examples may be seen in territorial waters
all the year round ; but our information regarding the species' movements is very
incomplete. From late in March till early in August the birds are at their breeding-
places, but for the rest of the year they remain at sea. In rough weather they
become numerous close inshore, and their bodies are frequently thrown up on the
beach ; sometimes they are seen in estuarine waters or even inland. But the
greater proportion of the birds are out at sea ; little information exists as to how
far they go, and we can only conjecture whether British waters are visited by birds
from farther north. There is some evidence that our own birds remain near our
coasts during the autumn and move southwards in December, after which it is
principally young birds that are to be found (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland,
1900, p. 357). [A. L. T.]

4- Nest and Eggs.— No nest is made by the razorbill : the egg is laid on

the bare rock, but if possible in some sheltered crevice, or, at any rate, on a much

overhung ledge, so that it is often difficult to reach. (PL xxxix.) Apparently in

places where crevices in the rocks do not exist, it breeds in holes like the puffin (cf .

H. J. Pearson, Three Summers among the Birds of Russian Lapland, p. 16), and more

.. frequently under boulders, as at Scilly (see p. 15). Only one egg is laid, less pyrif orm

' arid more conical in shape than those of the guillemot, and showing less variety

' ill colour' and markings. The ground-colour usually varies from white to yellowish,

pale brownish or reddish, blotched, spotted, and smeared, often in the form of a

PLATE XXXIX

Photo by Kiley Fortune

Razorbill's young and eggshell on an open ledge

Photo by Bentley Bcetham
Razorbill with its eggs in a crevice, and a pair of guillemots below

Photo by F. B. Kirkman

Guillemots on the Pinnacles, Fame Islands

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 3

zone at the big end, with rich chocolate-brown or black. In some cases the mark-
ings are so numerous that they obscure the ground-colour altogether, while in rare
cases a bluish green ground tint is observed. The interior of the shell looks greenish
when held up to the light, while in guillemots' eggs the corresponding colour is
yellowish white, except when the shell is coloured blue-green. (PI. F. ) Average size of
100 eggs, 2-95 x 1*86 in. [75- x 47 '4 mm.]. The breeding season on our coasts begins
a little earlier than that of the guillemot : probably the second to third week of May
is the average time, but in the high north not till a month later. Although only
one brood is normally reared during the season, a second and third egg is usually
laid if the first is destroyed. Incubation is performed by both sexes, and, according
to W. Evans, lasts 30 days : while F. G. Paynter observed it for 25 days. [F. c. B. J.]
5. Food. — Chiefly small fish and crustaceans. The species drinks salt water.
The young are fed by both parents on small fish. [F. B. K.]

GUILLEMOT [Una troile (Linnaeus). Scout, willock, willie, murre,
tinkershere ; eligoog (S. Wales) ; longie (Shetlands) ; stronnag (Isle of
Man). French, guillemot a capuchon ; German, Schmalschnabel-Lumme ;
Italian, uria\.

i. Description. — The guillemot is to be distinguished from its congeners by
the relatively long slender bill, which is without grooves or markings of any kind.
(PI. 94.) Length 18 in. [457'19 mm.]. The sexes are alike. There is a distinct
summer and winter plumage. In the summer dress the upper parts, including the
head and neck, are of a dark slate-grey, but the fore-part of the head and throat
and of the fore-neck have a decided tinge of smoke-brown. As the season advances
the brown hue increases, the slate-grey assuming a brown tinge also. The second-
aries are tipped with white, forming a bar across the wing. The lower part of the
fore-neck and the rest of the under parts are white, but the uppermost flank-feathers
are slate coloured. In winter the sides of the head, throat, and upper part of the
fore-neck are white, but the white on the side of the head is interrupted by a dark
triangular slate-coloured patch extending from the eye backwards above the ear-
coverts. The young in its first (protoptyle) plumage has the crown and back of
the neck dark brown relieved by yellowish white hair-like rami ; the back dark
brown, the sides and front of the neck dull white with numerous distinct but narrow
stripes of dull black. The breast and abdomen are white. The succeeding mesop-
tyle plumage (which has been mistaken for a true teleoptyle dress) is coloured like

4 THE AUKS

that of the adult in summer. In the autumn the teleoptyle dress is assumed,
which resembles that of the winter dress of the adults, but the feathers of the throat
have faint dusky mottlings. [w. P. p.]

2. Distribution. — In the British Isles this species is found breeding wherever
cliffs and steep rock faces afford sites for breeding colonies, both on the mainland
and on isolated stacks, and in some districts, such as the great range of chalk cliffs
from Speeton to Bempton in Yorkshire, and in various parts ~of the Welsh, Scotch,
and Irish coasts, enormous numbers may be found breeding close together. Out-
side the British Isles it is found in Iceland and the Faeroes, on Helgoland, Bornholm,
Store-Carlso, and Gotland, and along the Scandinavian coast up to the Varanger
Fjord, while it is said also to have bred in the E. Murman coast. Southward it
occurs on the northern and north-western coasts of France, and eggs have been
obtained on the Berlengas Isles, off the coast of Portugal. On the American side it
is found from New England and Nova Scotia north to lat. 80°, while an allied form
inhabits the North Pacific. The winter range of this bird extends to about lat. 30°
in the Atlantic, but it is scarce in the Western Mediterranean. [F. c. B. J.]

3. Migration. — The remarks on the razorbill under this head apply equally
to this species. A guillemot " ringed " as a chick on the Aberdeenshire cliffs in
July 1910 was shot near Gothenburg on November 29 of the same year (Aberdeen
University Bird-Migration Inquiry). [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — The guillemot makes no nest, but lays its single egg
on a bare shelf of rock, generally whitewashed with the droppings of the birds,
on a steep cliff face. At the Fame Islands vast numbers nest on the top of the
Pinnacles, packed so tightly together that movement is impossible. The egg is
very large, and pyriform in shape, and the incubating bird pushes it between
her legs, with the pointed end projecting forwards, and sits usually with her back
to the sea. (PI. xxxix.) In colour and markings these eggs probably vary more
than those of any other species, but can be classified under eight heads, according
to the ground-colour, which varies from pure white to creamy, yellow, or deep
blue-green. Sometimes eggs are met with entirely devoid of markings, others are
spotted or blotched, and in many cases an elaborate system of interlacing lines
covers the shell. These markings also vary in colour from rich red to brown,
deep black, or some shade of dirty green, and in some cases they practically cover
the shell and conceal the ground-colour altogether. (PI. G.) Average size of 122
eggs, 3-04 x 1-94 in. [77'37 x 49-45 mm.]. Incubation, which is carried on by both
sexes, lasts from 30 to 33 days, according to experiments with an incubator

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 5

(W. Evans), and Saxby confirms this, having found an egg with living young
after 30 days' incubation ; while F. G. Paynter estimates it as 32 days. The
first eggs are laid about 20th May on the Yorkshire coast, and are regularly
collected till July. Only one brood is normally reared in the season, but if the
first egg is destroyed, a second, and a third if necessary, are laid at intervals of
about fourteen, or, according to E. W. Wade, nineteen days. [F. c. E. jr.]

5. Food. — Chiefly small fishes, also crustaceans. The species drinks salt
water. The young are fed by both parents on small fish. [F. B. K.]

GREAT- AUK \_Alca impennis Linnaeus. Penguin, garefowl, pinwing, northern
auk. French, grand pingouin ; German, Eiesen-Alk ; Italian, gran pingouino}.

I. Description. — The great-auk closely resembled the razorbill, from which,

THE GREAT-AUK.

however, it differed in its much greater size and the vestigial condition of the wings,
which were useless for flight. The sexes were alike, and there were distinct
"summer" and "winter" plumages. (See Fig. above.) Length 32 in. [933 mm.].

6 THE AUKS

The summer dress differed from that of the razorbill only in that the white stripe
in front of the eye was enlarged to form a large oval patch of white, while the white
lines on the beak seem to have been rather less conspicuous. In immature birds the
feathers of the upper parts had pale margins, and the plumage generally was browner,
while the white patch on the face was only faintly indicated. The beak was smaller
than in the adult, and lacked the grooves and ridges. The winter dress was like that
of the razorbill. The young in down is said to have been of a dark grey colour.
[w. P. P.]

2 and 3. Distribution and Migration. — Symington Grieve, in his mono-
graph on " The Great Auk or Garefowl," defines the limits within which this extinct
species is supposed to have occurred, as follows: — From Disco Island1 along the
west coast of Greenland and eastward to Cape Dan; from thence aline to the North
Cape in Norway marks its supposed limits in the N. Atlantic ; southward along
the Norwegian coast and that of Sweden south to Malmo, including the Danish
coasts ; thence along the German, Dutch, Belgian, French, and Spanish coasts to
Cape Finisterre, while a line from here to Cape Cod defines the southern limits of
the species ; along the coast of New England, the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and
the Labrador coast to Kyucktabuck, and thence north possibly to Disco Island (?).
Since then the southern limit on the American coast has been extended by
the discovery of bones on the Carolina and Florida coasts. The chief breeding-
places within these limits appear to have been Eldey, Geirfuglasker, Fuglasker,
and the Westmann Isles off the coast of Iceland ; Sandoe in the Faeroes, Papa
Westray in the Orkneys, St. Kilda ; and on the west side of the Atlantic, Funk
Island, Penguin Islands, and "Aponars," off Newfoundland, Cape Breton, possibly
the Bird Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Cape Cod ; and the Darrells or
Graahs Isles on the east coast of Greenland. Of these, only the Iceland, Faeroe,
Orkney, St. Kilda, and Funk Island stations are regarded by Blasius as certainly
known. [F. c. R. or.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — The great-auk made no nest, but laid its single egg
on shelving rocks or low-lying coasts within a short distance of the sea. The
breeding season is said to have been in June. At some of its breeding-places
large numbers appear to have bred close together, as guillemots do at the present
day, and this seems to have contributed to their extermination, as expeditions
were fitted out to kill off the birds for food during the breeding season. Steenstrup
states that when the egg or young were destroyed, no attempt was made to lay a

1 More recent researches tend to prove that Disco Island should be deleted, as it is extremely
doubtful whether the species has ever been obtained there.

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 7

second time. Average size of 29 eggs, 4'89 x 3'01 in. [124*3 x 76*4 mm.). In shape
they resemble the eggs of the razorbill, but are of course much larger, and the ground-
colour varies from whitish to stone-grey, yellowish, yellowish brown, and reddish
yellow, while some eggs show faint traces of bluish green. In many cases exposure
to light for long periods has resulted in the colours fading. The markings vary
much in character. Some eggs are very sparingly marked, others exceedingly
richly with spots, blotches, streaks, and smears of deep sepia-brown shading into
black, which are sometimes concentrated at the big end. The presence of incubation
spots in skins of both sexes shows that both male and female took part in incubation.
[F. c. B. J.]

5. Food. — Little authentic information is available with regard to the food of
this species, but there is small doubt that its diet consisted chiefly of fish. Amongst
the species recorded are the lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus), the sea-scorpion (Cottus
scorpio), and some species of the herring genus (Clupea). Blasius also suggests
that crabs were eaten, as well as other lower forms of marine animals. [F. c. B. J.]

BLACK-GUILLEMOT [Cepphus grylle (Linnaeus). Dovekie, Greenland
dove, tystie, sea-pigeon. French, guillemot a miroir blanc ; German, Gryll-
Teist]. [No Italian name is given, as it has not been recorded from that
country. F. c. E. J.]

i. Description. — The black-guillemot is readily distinguished from its
allies by the large patch of white in the wing, and the vermilion-red legs. The sexes
are alike, and there is a distinct summer and winter dress. (PI. 96.) Length 11 in.
[279 '40 mm.]. The adult male, in summer, is of a sooty black, with a green
iridescent sheen ; and all the wing-coverts of the fore-arm, save only those of the
marginal series, are white, forming a large and conspicuous white patch. The under
wing-coverts and axillaries are also white. The eye is dark brown, the feet vermilion-
red, the beak black, the inside of the mouth reddish orange. In the winter dress the
crown, nape, and back of the neck are black with broad white fringes, giving the
plumage a hoary appearance. The scapulars are black, broadly edged with white.
The feathers of the lower back are black, broadly tipped with white, and on the rump
the black is entirely obscured by white. The wings as in summer. There is a black
patch in front of the eye. The under parts are pure white. This plumage is worn
but for a very short period, and the transitional state presents an indescribable
admixture of black and white, especially on the under parts. During the moult the

8 THE AUKS

white wing-patch is cut into two by a black bar formed by the basal portion of the
major coverts, which are exposed by loss of the white, overlying median coverts.
Legs vermilion, as in summer. The juvenile plumage resembles that of the adult in
winter. But the scapulars are black with a spot of white at the tip of each feather,
giving a mottled appearance quite unlike that of the adult, while the white wing-
patch is hardly traceable, being obscured by black, which colours the terminal
portion of the feathers at this stage. Similarly, black tips to the feathers of the
fore-neck, fore-breast, and flanks give a mottled appearance wanting in the adult.
Inside mouth blush red, feet and toes deep brown. The first down (protoptyle)
dress is of a uniform sooty brown hue. [w. P. P.]

2. Distribution. — In our Islands this species is confined to Scotland, Ireland,
and the Isle of Man, and does not breed in England or Wales. In Scotland it is
now absent as a breeding species from the east coast, except in Caithness, but is
plentiful in the Orkneys and Shetlands, along the north and north-west coasts,
and on the Hebrides, but becomes scarcer in the south-west. In Ireland, accord-
ing to Ussher, it breeds locally in small numbers round the coast, but is much more
frequent in the north and west of the country. Outside our limits it is known to
breed in the Fseroes, Iceland, along the Scandinavian coast up to the North Cape,
and also eastward to the Varanger Fjord, in the Kola peninsula and the shores
of the White Sea, on some of the Danish islands, and in the Baltic Sea along the
southern coast of Sweden northward to Sundsvall at least, on Bornholm, its most
southerly breeding-place, the Aland Isles, Karlo, and the coast of Finland in the
Gulf of Bothnia. North of these limits it is replaced by Mandt's guillemot, but
on the west side of the Atlantic it occurs from Massachusetts to southern Green-
land, and breeds from Newfoundland to the Labrador coast as well as in Green-
land. Its whiter quarters are in the North Atlantic, and it rarely occurs south
of the English Channel. [F. c. B. J.]

3. Migration. — Resident : the winter wanderings of this species appear to
be of slight extent, as it is rarely met with in southern English waters. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — No nest is made, and the two eggs are deposited on
the bare rocks under boulders at the foot of cliffs, or in crevices of the rocks, and
occasionally among ruins. As a rule, the site is low down and not far from the
sea, but in the Shetlands it has been known to breed a hundred feet above the sea
(Zoologist, 1891, p. 134), while Saunders says it has been known to nest a hundred
yards inland. (PI. XL.) The eggs are usually two in number, but three have
occasionally been found together, and are whitish in ground-colour, sometimes

PLATE XL

Phulo by Bcntley

Black-guillemot's nest-hole and

Photo by Beiitley licctn«*m

Black-guillemot's nest-bole and young1

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 9

with a tinge of bluish green, blotched and spotted with ashy grey and very dark
blackish brown, which sometimes tends to form a zone. (PI. F.) Average size
of 52 eggs, 2*32 x 1'56 in. [58*9 x 39*8 mm.]. The breeding season is late, and in
Scotland eggs are rarely laid before the end of May, and in Iceland from the begin-
ning of June onwards. Incubation is carried on by both sexes in turn, and Hantzsch
found the males sitting at night and the females by day in several cases. The
incubation period is estimated by the same writer at three and a half weeks — 24-25
days. One brood is reared during the season, but a second clutch of eggs is laid
if the first is destroyed. [F. c. B. J.]

5. Food. — Chiefly Crustacea and small fish. Also marine worms, molluscs
(Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 239), and seaweed (E. Selous, Bird Watcher in
the Shetlands, p. 203). The young are fed by both parents on small fish.
[F. B. K.]

LITTLE!- A UK [Alle alle (Linnaeus); Mergulus alle (Linnaeus). Rotge,
rotchie ; Iceland auk (Yorkshire) ; dovekie. French, mergule nain ; German,
Krabbentaucher ; Italian, gazza marina minore],

1. Description. — The small size of this species and the short beak alone
suffice to distinguish it from its congeners. (PI. 96.) Length 7 '5 in. [179 mm.].
The sexes are alike, and there is a distinct summer and winter dress. In the
summer dress the head and neck to the fore-breast and the upper parts, are black,
the back and wings have a greenish gloss, and are further relieved by white edgings
to the hinder scapulars, and white tips to the secondaries. There is also a white
spot over the eye. The uppermost flank-feathers have their upper margin slate
coloured. The rest of the plumage is pure white. Iris hazel, legs and toes livid
brown, the webs darker. In winter the throat and fore-neck are white, like the
rest of the under parts. The juvenile plumage resembles that of the adult in
summer, and this appears to be a mesoptyle dress, as in the guillemot and
razorbill. The down (protoptyle) plumage is of a uniform sooty brownish black.
Immature birds after the autumn moult are to be distinguished from adults in
winter by the absence of the white spot over the eye. [w. P. P.]

2. Distribution. — To the British Isles this species is only a winter visitor ;
its breeding haunts lie in the high north, and include Grimsey, off the Iceland
coast, and possibly also on the mainland (cf. Ibis, 1911, p. 8), Spitzbergen, the
west side of Novaya Zemlya, Franz-Josef Land, Jan Mayen, Mevenklint, and in

VOL. III. B

10 THE AUKS

Greenland from about lat. 68° to Foulke Fjord, lat. 78° 18'. The limits of its
winter migrations extend on the west of the Atlantic to New Jersey, and on the east
south to the Azores and Canaries exceptionally, although not recorded from the
Straits of Gibraltar. It has, however, been occasionally met with in the Mediter-
ranean. [F. c. R. J.]

3. Migration. — A winter visitor from the Arctic, mainly to our northern seas
and coasts. The number of birds that reaches our area is very variable, noteworthy
visitations taking place in some years. The winters 1841-2, 1894-5, and 1899-
1900 were remarkable in this respect : less so were 1848, 1861-2, 1878-9, 1884-5,
1889-90, and 1900-1 (cf. Witherby and Ticehurst, British Birds, ii. p. 332 ; Tice-
hurst, B. of Kent, 1909, p. 533; Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 731; and Ussher
and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 368). November, December, and January are
the chief months in which the species is found in British waters. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Does not breed in the British Isles. [F. c. B. J.]

5. Food. — The main food of this species consists of minute Crustacea, and
during the breeding season these are brought to the nesting-place by both parents
in the distended cheek. Other plankton organisms are also devoured, and, according
to Von Heuglin, Mollusca form part of its diet. Kolthoff notes that Amphipoda
are eaten, and Collett found in the stomachs of Norwegian specimens Crustacea
(Euphausia inermis) and traces of fish spawn. Among other genera of Crustacea
which have been noted may be mentioned Crangon, Palaemon, Mysis, etc. Saunders
states that during the autumn and winter months animal offal is also eaten.
[F. c. R. j.]

PUFFIN [Fratercula arctica (Linnaeus). Sea-parrot, coulter-neb, pope, bottle-
nose, Tammie Norie (Shetlands), pibbin (Isle of Man). French, macareux
moine ; German, arktischer Lund ; Italian, polcinella di mare].

I. Description. — The puffin, when adult, may be recognised at once by the
large size and brilliant colouring of the beak, and the bright orange-red legs. The
sexes are alike. (PI. 97.) Length 13 in. (330*19). There is no seasonal change of
plumage. The sides of the face are of a pale smoke-brown colour, the crown, nape,
a band round the neck, and the rest of the upper parts black ; the uppermost flank-
feathers are slate coloured, the rest of the under parts pure white. The upper jaw
is bounded behind by a raised fillet, cream coloured, and finely pitted. This is
succeeded by a triangular plate of pale blue-grey, the rest of the beak being red,

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 11

and marked by two deep grooves, while a similar groove, yellowish in colour,
bounds the front of the triangular plate of blue-grey. The lower jaw is blue-grey
at the base, bounded anteriorly by a raised margin of dull creamy white ; at its tip is
a conspicuous notch. On the upper eyelid is a triangular horny plate of blue-grey,
and along the lower lid runs an oblong horny plate of the same hue. The rim of the
eyelid is red, and at the gape is a rosette-like wattle of red. At the autumn moult
the horny plates of the eyelids, the fillet at the base of the upper jaw, and the
blue plates, are shed, thus materially reducing the size of the beak (see p. 51).
The juvenile plumage differs from that of the adults in having a large dark patch
in front of the eye, while the beak is much smaller, dagger-like, and lacks the
brilliant coloration of that of the adults. The down (protoptyle) dress is of a
uniform greyish brown, the breast white. This down is of great length, woolly in
character, and probably represents both proto- and mesoptyle generations, [w. p. P.]

2. Distribution. — In the British Isles, the puffin, like the guillemot and
razorbill, is chiefly confined to those parts of the coast where cliffs are found, so
that it is absent from the low shores of Lincoln and East Anglia. It is not found
in great numbers on the south coast of England, but on the other hand is met with
in enormous colonies in the west of Scotland and many parts of the Welsh and Irish
shores, also on the Scillies. Outside the British Isles it breeds in the Faeroes,
along the Norwegian coast, and in Bohuslan on that of Sweden, in Russian Lap-
land, on the west side of Novaya Zemlya according to Buturlin, as well as in
Iceland, while an allied race, F. arctica glacialis, occurs in Spitzbergen, as well as
in Greenland up to 70° N. Formerly many nested on Helgoland, while it is plentiful
in some of the Channel Islands, and also breeds in Brittany, and it is possible that
some also nest on the Berlengas. On the west side of the Atlantic its southern
limit appears to be the Bay of Fundy. The winter quarters of this species extend
to the New England States in N. America, and to the Azores, Canaries, and the
Western Mediterranean on the east side. [F. c. E. J.]

3. Migration. — A summer visitor to our coasts, and uncommon in British
waters during the winter months. Of the nature of its journeys almost nothing is
known: as regards its return to its breeding-places, the late Professor Newton
remarked, " Foul weather or fair, heat or cold, the puffins repair to some of their
stations punctually on a given day as if their movements were regulated by clock-
work " (Dictionary of Birds, 1896, p. 558). [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Most nests of this species are to be found in burrows
two or three feet long in the turf near the top of cliffs, but occasionally eggs may

12 THE AUKS

be found in natural crevices or under stones. Sometimes the single egg is laid on
the bare earth, but there is generally some loose grass and a feather or two. Ac-
cording to Naumann, both sexes share in building. In very crowded colonies eggs
have been found lying exposed on the bare rock. (PI. XLI.) In colour most eggs
are a dull dirty white, rough, and quite without gloss, faintly blotched, spotted or
zoned with some shade of pale brown or violet, while eggs with darker and more
decided brown markings have been known to occur occasionally. The eggs after
incubation are often deeply stained by the peaty soil. (PI. F.) Average size
of 30 eggs, 2-39 x 1-67 in. [60-8 x 42-5 mm.]. The puffin returns to its breeding
haunts with great regularity, and begins to nest early in May, laying in the second
or third week of that month. If the first egg is taken, another is laid about fourteen
days afterwards, but apparently not a third time. Incubation is performed by
both sexes, and lasts, according to Messrs. F. G. Paynter and W. Evans, for 36
days. Only one brood is normally reared in the season. [F. c. E. J.]

5. Food. — Chiefly fish and crustaceans. The young are fed by both
parents on small fish. [F. B. K.]

The following is described in the supplementary chapter on " Rare Birds " : 1—

Briinnich's guillemot, Uria lomvia (Linnseus), [Uria bruennichi
(E. Sabine)].

1 The great-auk should more properly be placed under this head, but the interest attaching
to the species justifies the more complete treatment it receives by including it in the main body
of the book.

PLATE XL!

Photo by 1;. B. Kirkiiiau

Site of puffin's nest under boulders

Photo by F. B. Kfrkman

Same with boulders removed to show the nest and ege

Photo by C. J. King

Puffins' breed ing- placet Anaet, Sciily

THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT 13

THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT

[F. B. KIRKMAN]

In the older classifications the Auks were placed next to the
Divers (Colymbidce). A closer study of their structure has revealed
the fact that, like the Gulls and Terns (Laridce), they are a highly
specialised form of the Plovers (Limicolce). They are descended from
some primitive plover that left the shore for the sea, the change from
one habitat to the other being accompanied by a change in structure,
which, by a process of convergent evolution, has led to their present
resemblance to the divers, more particularly in respect to modifica-
tions tending to increase their powers of movement in the water, such
as the lengthening of the body and the shifting back of the legs to its
posterior end.1

The family is confined to the northern hemisphere. Of some
twenty-five species, the names of seven find a place on the list of
British birds. One of these, the great-auk, is extinct; a second,
Briinnich's guillemot, is a very rare occasional visitor ; and a third, the
little-auk, a fairly common winter visitor. The remaining four species,
the black-guillemot, puffin, and those which form the subject of this
chapter, are to be found on British waters all the year round. All
four belong to different genera, but the frequent association of the
razorbill and common-guillemot makes it convenient to treat both
together.

The two species are not difficult to distinguish, even apart from
the marked difference in the shape of their bills.2 The razorbill is a
handsome bird, its rich black upper parts gaining an added effect in

1 H. Gadow in Bronn's Thier-reichs, vol. vi. ; Vogel, II. Systematischer Theil, p. 206 ;
P. E. Beddard, Structure and Classification of Birds, p. 359 ; W. P. Pycraf t, History of Birds,
pp. 55, 450.

* What there is in the shape of the bill of the razorbill to justify its name I am unable to
understand.

14 THE AUKS

the breeding season from the clear-cut thin white lines round the beak,
and from the beak to the eye. Its figure, if a trifle stout, is compact
and well defined. The guillemot lacks finish, especially about the
head and beak, owing to the unrelieved uniformity of the coloration of
its upper parts. The ringed, bridled, or spectacled variety, which has
a white ring round the eye and a white streak behind it, makes a
better appearance, but these additions do not compensate for the
want of a clear dividing-line between the head and the beak. The
bridle marking has yet to be explained. The individuals which have
it mix and breed freely with the ordinary type, but remain in a minority,
which appears to vary, however, in different localities. The propor-
tion of the variant to the typical form is given as one to fifty in
Ireland, and one to five in the Western Isles.1 At the Flamborough
Cliffs (Bempton, May 1911) I saw scarcely any of the former, not
more than three among some hundreds of birds.

Between the breeding seasons both species are to be found,
usually in comparatively small parties, off our coasts or far out to sea.2
They pass their days and nights on the water. Towards the beginning
of February, or sometimes later, they draw near their breeding-haunts,
which they appear to frequent somewhat irregularly till April, when
they begin to occupy their nesting-sites in considerable numbers;3
but laying does not begin till May.

Razorbills and guillemots are generally to be found on the same
cliffs, but their relative numbers vary to a greater or less degree
according to the nature of the nesting-sites provided. As is well
known, guillemots prefer open ledges, or the tops of stacks,
though they may also be seen in crevices or holes in the face of
the cliff. Razorbills prefer the crevices, or a ledge which is over-
hung. On the Flamborough cliffs (Bempton) I have seen both

1 Ussher, Birds of Ireland, p. 361 ; Harvie-Brown, Outer Hebrides, p. 161.

1 The extent of their gregariousness between the breeding season is not very clear from the
evidence. The same applies to the movements of the two species previous to their occupation
of their breeding-haunts in April.

' Usaher, Birds of Ireland, pp. 356, 361 ; Nelson, Birds of Torks., ii. 711 ; Annals of Scottish
Natural History, 1904, p. 22.

THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT 15

species on the same ledge, the guillemots on the half which was
open, and the razorbills on the other half, which was overhung in
such a way as to permit the birds to occupy it only in a sitting
position. On these cliffs the former species is in a large majority.
The opposite is the case at the Scilly Isles, " where precipitous rock
faces are few in number, whilst rocks covered with huge boulders and
intersected in all directions with nooks and crannies abound. Here,
in the latter, razorbills are swarming, and are indeed often quite as
numerous as the puffins. There are many low islets which only rise a
few feet above the sea, and are scattered all over with boulders of
various sizes, amongst which razorbills and puffins are about equally
distributed, but where not one guillemot will be found."1 On the
Fames, on the other hand, the guillemots are much the more numerous,
for here they have not only suitable ledges but the flat top of the
stacks known as the Pinnacles. The photograph of these on PL xxxix.
and Mr. Seaby's drawing (PI. 94) will give a good idea of the pressure
upon the available space. To realise, however, the enormous numbers
in which these birds, together with puffins and other cliff-frequenting
species, congregate in the breeding season, one must go to larger
colonies, like those in the Western Isles, where the birds crowd the
sea and the cliffs, and blacken the air in their passage from one to the
other. At N. Ronay, in the Outer Hebrides, the huge number of
breeding guillemots is said to be augmented by the visitations of
hundreds of thousands of non-breeding birds.2 These include, no
doubt, a certain proportion of immature individuals. In the case of
razorbills, Mr. Ussher states that a certain number of the birds of the
previous year make their appearance at the Irish breeding-haunts,
but only in small numbers.3 According to Naumann, the non-breeding
birds may be seen in pairs, either sitting among the others, or in groups
apart, the groups being mostly composed of the young of the previous
year. He adds that these pairs perform just the same love actions,

1 C. J. King in litt.

* Harvie-Brown and Buckley, Fauna of the Outer Hebrides, p. 161.

3 Birds of Ireland, p. 356.

16 THE AUKS

billing, bowing, etc., as those that hatch eggs.1 The matter is well
worth further attention.

There can be little or no doubt that the birds pair for life and
return to the same ledges each year. Whether one sex returns before
the other is not recorded, and there are, unfortunately, no published
details of the struggle for nesting-sites that must take place at this
period wherever there is overcrowding.

On one occasion I witnessed what was evidently a battle for the
ownership of a crevice between two razorbills. It took the form of a
tug-of-war, both birds crouching with their beaks apparently inter-
locked. As the strain of the tugging fell chiefly upon the neck, the
heavy bodies remained much where they were. After about twenty
minutes of this ineffective struggle, both flew off together, alighted on
the water, and there continued to battle, finally diving.

Owing to the similarity of the sexes, it was impossible to say
whether this contest was between males or females, or between a
male and a female. In studying contests for sites, the first
important thing to ascertain, from the scientific point of view, is
whether or not the males return to the breeding-haunts before the
females. If they do, it may follow that conquest of a nesting-site
carries with it possession of the female accustomed to lay there. The
female, on her arrival, may find a new mate awaiting her, instead of
the old. If she accepts him, as a matter of course it is clear that the
theory of sexual selection, as far as these species are concerned, falls
to the ground.2 Whether such be the case or not, close observation
of these and other cliff-birds at the beginning of the season would give
very important results. Hitherto, unfortunately, their eggs have been
regarded as of much more importance than the birds themselves.
Hence our ignorance of their habits, though they are exceedingly easy
to watch.

Fighting takes place at any time during the breeding season, and

1 VGgel Mitteleuropas, xii. 221.

J For observations on the same point in respect to the Warblers, see H. E. Howard, British
Warblers.

Plate 94

G-uillemots on a corner of the Pinnacles,
Farne Isles

By A. W. Seaby

THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT 17

seems to arise, in part at least, from one bird's objection to the
presence of another near the particular spot which it regards as its
own. It is difficult otherwise to explain the menaces and thrusts
exchanged between adjacent incubating birds, or the pecks that a
guillemot returning to its ledge often receives from those near which
it alights, for no apparent reason except that before reaching its own
particular spot it trespasses on the property of others.

Guillemots appear to be more combative than razorbills, no
doubt because the fact that they breed in numbers on the same ledge
or stack brings them much closer together, and consequently in-
creases the occasions for strife. But the thrusts they make at one
another are sometimes merely a matter of form, and at others mere
play. I have seen a number thus playing upon the water. Two
would point beaks at and swim round each other much like a couple
of fencers seeking for an opening, but they went no further, and were
evidently in high spirits. Just the same play may sometimes be seen
when a pair greet each other.1 More serious are the disputes that
often follow the arrival on the ledge of a guillemot with a fish in its
beak. On its passage to its mate or young it has to run the risk of
having its prey snapped away by another bird, who in turn may suffer
the same loss. Thus the fish may pass from bird to bird before it is
finally engulfed. "Or it may be tugged at for a long time by two
birds that have a firm hold of the head and tail part respectively, and
pull it backwards and forwards, not infrequently across the neck of
a third bird standing between them." 2

As far as my observation goes, the guillemots' method of fighting
is the same as the gannets'. Though they make passes with the beak
closed, they do not strike with it closed, but either give a sharp nip if
they can take their adversary unawares, or else seize him by the beak
and tug. I have seen one bird with the beak of another almost
inside its own. In this position they remained silently struggling for

1 E. Selous, Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, p. 163.

2 E. Selous, Bird Watching, p. 188.

VOL. III.

18 THE AUKS

two or three minutes, when, after a final tussle, the aggressor
decamped. The description given above of a battle between razor-
bills makes it appear that their method is the same.

Like other birds, guillemots and razorbills express the rebirth of
love in the spring by a variety of actions. These are usually called
courtship actions, but, as noted in another chapter,1 the term is,
strictly speaking, inexact, for such actions occur in the case of birds
that live in pairs throughout the year, and continue after mating has
taken place. They are simply the outward and visible sign of the
birds' feelings, and may be witnessed at all times during the breeding
season. The display of the cock sparrow can, for instance, be seen
any day from January to July — that is, during nearly half the year.

One of the most usual expressions of mutual love among both
guillemots and razorbills is common to many birds. This is the
familiar "billing," which takes the form of touching, rubbing, or
interlocking bills, and corresponds to the human kiss. The move-
ments of the head and neck that accompany it are sometimes
performed in the air without actual contact of the bill. Closely
connected with " billing," and legitimately included under the term,
are the caresses which take the form of nibbling with the tip of the
bill at the plumage of the beloved. I have more than once seen a
guillemot, seated in an attitude of slippered ease, on the ledge with its
head bent over its back, its beak pointing blissfully upward, and a
wide expanse of neck and throat presented to its mate, who
affectionately nibbled at it, to be afterwards caressed in turn. Some-
times a bird passes its bill over the head and neck of its mates
without nibbling. This, at least, certainly applies to razorbills,
probably also to guillemots. These love caresses are by no means
always gentle ; indeed, one might well mistake the pecks then given
for an assault, did they not gradually develop into an exchange of
gentler pecks and nibblings. At times, of course, there are serious
domestic disputes, followed, however, by a happy reconciliation. A

1 Vol. ii. 65, 66.

THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT 19

third form of caress is the twining by one bird of its neck round the
neck of its mate, which I have noted in the case of guillemots, and also
of gannets. Here the avian neck plays the part of the human arm.

The most remarkable of these love actions was one which
I witnessed in the case of guillemots only. In its complete form it
consisted in running the head down the breast till the tip of the beak
nearly touched the ground between the feet, then in raising it well up
and jerking it about quickly from side to side. Sometimes the head
was moved down a short way only, then raised and jerked. Sometimes,
again, the head might be jerked without any preliminary bowing
action ; and sometimes the latter alone occurred, or was followed by
some caress, such as the feather nibbling. On one occasion I saw one
bird keep its head between its feet while the other delicately nibbled
at its crown. These actions were not confined to one sex. Both
might be seen bending their heads to the ground side by side. But
the presence of both was not essential. One would occasionally
perform by itself. The shorter, unfinished bows, curious forward
movements of the head, were made not only by pairs but by a number
at a time. In the latter case it appeared to have rather a social than
a sexual significance.

The downward inclination of the head to the feet is the most
interesting feature in this display, on account of its close resemblance
to the movement performed by guillemots when pushing their eggs
beneath their breasts with the bill, before settling down to incubate.
I have indeed seen guillemots, before they had eggs, shuffle along
the ledge as if seeking a spot to lay, and then bring the beak down
between the feet in the way described. In these cases the action
may have been actually anticipative of egg-laying, and have had no
sexual meaning. But circumstantial evidence left no room to doubt
that in the majority of cases it was a love-display. The resemblance
between the two acts probably extends to the curious little nibbling
movements that the bird often makes with the bill during the space
of time in its display when the tip of its beak is held just above the

20 THE AUKS

ground. As no guillemots had started to lay at the time I made the
preceding observations (May 9-13, 1911), I was unable to verify this
detail, but the assertion of probability seems to me more than justified
by the fact that I saw a razorbill, which species is also in the habit
of pushing its egg under its breast, perform the identical nibbling
motions before it actually put its bill on the farther side of the egg
in order to roll it into place over the side of its foot.

If this use of the same act for more than one purpose were an
isolated fact, it might pass as a mere coincidence. But it is not.
Birds, being creatures with limited means of expression, naturally
tend to make a familiar act do duty in different ways. The robin's
song, for example, expresses love in spring, and in winter is a battle
note or a sign of well-being. Further, the act may be primary in one
of its uses and derived in the other. For example, the bowing display
of the guillemot has all the appearance of being derived from the
more primitive act of pushing the egg into place. The jerking of the
head in the air that follows the bowing action may be explained in
the same way as a development from the nibbling caress, for, as we
have seen, the bird often makes nibbling movements without actual
contact. In the chapter on Gulls, similar examples will be given.
The subject cannot be pursued further here. It leads directly to the
very large question of the evolution of animal behaviour as distinct
from animal structure. It is one to which field ornithology could
make most important contributions.

The razorbill, besides the billing and the nibbling caress already
described, also jerks its head about. I have not seen it indulge in the
guillemots' curious bowing movements ; indeed, it has less room for
display of any sort, owing to the less open nature of its nesting-place.
But it has seemed to me to be more vocal when in its love transports,
its chief effort being a harsh continuous croaking note. Generally
speaking, however, the guillemot is a much noisier bird, its note being
present to the ear almost continuously during the height of the breed-
ing season. It is generally described as "murr" and as such has

THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT 21

given one of its names to the species. The description is very in-
adequate, and overlooks both the fact that the bird utters more than
one distinct sound and has a wide range of intonation.1 Its most im-
portant note bears for me a strong resemblance to the long-drawn
meditative croon of the common barn-fowl. To Mr. E. Selous, on the
other hand, " it resolves itself into a sort of jodel, long continued, and
having a vibratory roll in it. It begins usually with one or two
shorter notes, which have much the syllabic value of ' harah, hSrah ' —
first a as in ' hat,' with the accent on the last syllable, as in ' hurrah.'
Very commonly the outcry ends here, but otherwise the final 'rah'
is prolonged into the sound I speak of, which continues rising and
falling — which is why I call it a jodel — for a longer or shorter time,
the volume of sound being increased, sometimes, to a wonderful
extent. It ends usually as it began, with a few short rough notes. . . . " 2
The note not only strikes different ears in a different way, but varies
very considerably for the same ear. I find in my note-books three
attempts to syllable it, as follows : —

" Querrr, quow, quow, hr hr hr hr."
" Krrowww, how, how how, how, how."
" Koo-werrrr-koo, koo, koo, koo."

A note that sometimes enters into it is a duck-like sound, syllabled by
Mr. Selous as " ik, ik, ik," and in my note-books by repetitions of either
" hec " or " uk " or " wik." This note may be used by itself. The species
probably utters other distinct sounds. To tabulate its language
adequately requires a phonetically trained ear and a phonetic
notation. The present attempts to represent, in the traditional or
nomic spelling, the sounds uttered either by this or any other species
are practically useless for purposes of exact comparison.

Both guillemots and razorbills lay one egg only, unless robbed,
when they will lay a second, and, if this is taken, even a third. No
nest is built, the egg being deposited on the bare rock ; but guillemots

1 By which is here meant the rising and falling of the voice in pitch.

2 Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, pp. 113, 172, 187, etc.

22 THE AUKS

have been seen to bring what might serve for nest material (feathers,
grass, roots) to their mates, and lay it on the rock before them, where
it is sometimes pulled about by both.1 This may be mere play, but it
has at least some appearance of being the survival of a lapsed nest-
building instinct, granted that the primitive plover from which the
Auks are descended had acquired the instinct, which, after all, is an
assumption. If it had the instinct, there at once arises a difficulty in
explaining why it should have lapsed. That there is nothing in the
nature of the nesting sites occupied by guillemots and razorbills to
prohibit the construction of a nest is a fact to which the kittiwake,
gannet, and puffin bear witness, particularly the two first named, which
erect particularly solid structures on ledges often exactly similar to
those which a guillemot might choose. The kittiwake, let us note,
like other gulls, is also descended from plover stock. Possibly the
Gulls branched off from stock in which the nest-building instinct had
become well established, and the Auks did not. The nest-building
instinct of the puffin may have been subsequently acquired.

The fact that razorbills and guillemots lay one egg can be explained
by the large size of the egg and by the difficulty of incubating more
than one on bare rock-ledges, where the eggs would tend to roll
apart in the absence of cup-shaped depressions such as are provided
by a nest or a scrape in the soil. Yet the gannet also lays one
egg — in a nest !

The extraordinary variation in the coloration of guillemots' eggs
has often been remarked, and provides one of the excuses for collect-
ing them in large numbers, though the collectors remain, for the most
part, singularly reticent about the scientific results of their labours.
The variation extends not only to the colour and shape of the markings
but also to the ground-colour, which may be white, blue, green, brown,
yellow, buff, or pink. (PI. G.) The variation in the razorbills' eggs are
less marked, not more so than in those of many other species.

The variation, in the case of guillemots' eggs, has been explained

1 E. Selous, Bird Watching, pp. 194-5 ; Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, p. 109.

THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT 23

by the supposition that it helps each bird to find its own among the
many that may be crowded upon a ledge or stack. In support of
this, Yarrell states the fact that birds marked with splashes of paint
were found in their accustomed places day after day. The fact,
however, does not necessarily prove his contention, for there can be
little doubt that the birds return again and again to their accustomed
places before their eggs are laid. No doubt each bird does recognise
its own egg as long as it remains fairly clean, but, as Saxby pointed
out long ago, the eggs tend in a short time to become so coated with
filth, especially in wet weather, that they cease to show any notice-
able variation. When they are in this condition it is probable that
each bird would recognise the accustomed place much more readily
than the egg. In any case, there is no clear evidence that the varia-
tion has been evolved to facilitate recognition. It may more plausibly
be explained by the supposition that here natural selection has ceased
to act. The ancestral plover, from which the Auks are descended, no
doubt laid its eggs on the ground, and those survived whose eggs
assimilated most closely in coloration to the site habitually chosen.
Hence, as in the case of the Waders generally, the emergence of
eggs of a relatively uniform coloration. But from the moment the
ancestor of the Auks started to lay on open rock-ledges, chalk, red
sandstone, limestone, and others, the coloration of its eggs would,
owing to the change in the character of the site, cease to have pro-
tective value. The guillemot appears to have met the difficulty by
systematic sharing by the sexes in incubation, so that when one of
a pair was off the other was on, or usually so. This made the colora-
tion of the egg a matter of little importance, and variation, previously
checked by natural selection, had free play.

The pear shape of the guillemot's eggs, and the somewhat more
conical shape of the razorbill's, serves, it has been suggested, to pre-
vent them from rolling off the ledge into the sea by causing them to
spin round when disturbed. In fact, the shape of the eggs does not
prevent them falling off the ledges in cascades when a colony is

24 THE AUKS

suddenly startled by the report of a gun or otherwise, for each egg
rests between and partly, if not wholly, on the bird's webbed feet.
The sight of such sudden downfalls was, and possibly still is in certain
places, "one of the amusements of the gaping tourist," to quote
Alfred Newton. When not frightened off its egg, the bird is careful
to get its feet away from it before taking flight. When thus left, a
pear-shaped egg would, of course, if the rock where it stood were not
level, be much less likely to roll than a round one, but it would be
rash to assume that this explains the pear shape, for it is almost
certainly that of the guillemot's ground-laying ancestor. Indeed,
the similarity of the eggs of Auks and existing Plovers is regarded
as one of the proofs of their descent from a common stock. The
primary use of the pyriform shape may be seen by examining the
arrangement in the nest of the four eggs of the green plover or lap-
wing ( Vandlus milgaris). They lie with their points meeting, and so
occupy the minimum of space.

Both guillemots and razorbills appear to sit with the egg not
across the webbed feet, but lengthwise between them. The guillemot
incubates either in an erect position or lying flat, the former, no
doubt, originating as a space-saving device on crowded ledges. It
usually sits with its breast facing the cliff. This is especially the
case on ledges sloping seaward. On less sloping cliffs its has been
seen to sit sideways, and on large roomy flat surfaces with the breast
to the sea.1 The normal position of the incubating razorbill is the
recumbent. The nature of its nesting-place would in most cases
render any other impossible. Both sexes, in the case of both species,
share in incubation, and have brood-spots for the purpose. The males,
in addition, feed the hens when incubating.2 Naumann denies this
in the case of the guillemot.3 Personally I have watched incubating

1 C. J. Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 485.

2 For the guillemot : Harvie-Brown and Buckley, Fauna of Outer Hebrides, p. 161 (Finlayson) ;
E. Selous, Bird Watching, p. 187. For the razorbill : Patten, A quatic Birds, p. 470 ; H. Saunders,
Manual of British Birds, p. 696.

3 Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 212.

Plate 95

Razorbills

By A. W. Seaby

THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT 25

razorbills for some hours without seeing the sitting bird once fed.1
Perhaps the practice of individual birds varies.

The young are hatched after about 25-30 days' incubation. It
has been noted by Mr. Pycraft that, in the case of both, the second
or "mesoptyle" generation of prepennse (down feathers replaced
later by contour feathers 2 is not only much less degenerate in struc-
ture than the first or "protoptyle" generation, but in coloration
exactly resembles the summer dress of the adults, the resemblance
extending, in the case of the razorbill, even to the white stripe in
front of the eye. This fact supports Mr. Pycraft's contention that
the "mesoptyle" down is a degenerate ancestral plumage, though
less degenerate than is usually the case.

The young remain on the ledges from three to four weeks, where
they are fed assiduously by both parents on small fish. The guillemot
brings one at a time, holding it lengthwise in the beak, with the tail
projecting about an inch and hanging over to one side. The razorbill
holds its prey across the bill ; it is, therefore, able to bring more than
one fish, and does so — half a dozen at a time, the heads and tails
forming a fringe on either side. This marked difference between
the habits of the two species will be dealt with further in the chapter
on the puffin, which carries its fish in the same way as the razorbill.3

In pursuing their prey under the water both species use their
wings. They have the appearance of flying under the water, the legs
trailing behind, and used only — though about this I am not certain —
to help in turning. The resemblance of flight under the water to that
in the air is only superficial. The difference is thus stated by J. B.
Pettigrew : " In aerial flight the most effective stroke is delivered
downwards and forwards by the under, concave or biting surface of the
wing, which is turned in this direction ; the less effective stroke being
delivered in an upward and forward direction by the upper, convex or

1 The same is the experience of a writer in the Annals of Scottish Natural History, 1904, 22.

2 Vol. i. p. 15.

3 The curious fact, hitherto unnoticed, that the razorbill, like the puffin, sheds part of its
bill in winter, will be treated in the same chapter (p. 52).

VOL. III. D

26 THE AUKS

non-biting surface of the wing. In sub-aquatic flight, on the contrary,
the most effective stroke is delivered downwards and backwards, the
least effective one upwards and forwards." In aerial flight the line
of the body is inclined slightly upwards, in the other slightly down-
wards. The difference is explained by the fact that, while forward
movement is the object in both cases, the sub-aquatic flier, being
lighter than water, has to keep itself from rising, while the aerial
flier, being heavier than the air, has to keep itself from falling.1

The fish, when brought by guillemots to the ledge, is either dropped
there for the young to pick up, or is snatched by the latter before it
touches ground. What is the procedure in the case of the razorbill
I have been unable to find out.

Both species drink salt water. The same fact has been noted in
the case of the sandgrouse.

The following are two little domestic scenes described from life
by the pen of Mr. E. Selous, who has recorded in greater detail than
any one the life of guillemots on the ledges during the time that the
young are hatched.

The first illustrates the act of feeding the chick : — " The chick,
when a very substantial fish is brought in for him, is asleep under
his mother's wing, and both parents seem averse to disturbing him.
The one with the fish seems quite embarrassed. He approaches,
stands still, looks at his partner as if for advice, shuffles about, turns
this way and that, and several times, bending his head, gives a choked
and muffled jodel, for his mouth is almost too full to speak. Still the
chick sleeps on, and still the parents seem to doubt the advisability
of waking him. At length, however, they admit it to be necessary.
The father shuffles up into his usual position, the mother rises by
slow and reluctant stages, as though apologetically, and finally stirs
the chick several times with her bill till at last he rouses. Then, in
a moment, he busks up, and, seizing the large fish, swallows it in a
whole-hearted gulp." 2

1 Animal Locomotion, p. 92. * The Bird Watcher in the Shetland.?.

THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT 27

The term " shuffle," it may be remarked parenthetically, is quite
appropriately applied to the guillemot's mode of progression on land —
and equally to the razorbill's. Both walk, and also stand, on the
metatarsus as well as the toes, that is, on the whole sole of the foot,
instead of, as in the case of most birds, on the toes only ; or, in less
exact language, the guillemot and razorbill walk on the foot and
so-called " shank " — the two together constituting what corresponds to
the mammalian foot, from the lower set of ankle-bones to the toes
(Vol. I. p. 14, Fig. 1). Occasionally both species hop, but still alight
on the metatarsus and toes. They have been seen sometimes to raise
themselves up on the toes, and both walk and run in this attitude.1
According to Dr. Saxby, who was a good observer, the young guillemots
run and stand upon the toes ; it is only as they grow older that they
rest on the metatarsi as well.2 This is a most interesting fact, and
tends to show the adult bird's mode of progression is of comparatively
recent date, but as to how it arose I can form no idea.

The second scene illustrates the affection shown by the parents
for the young, which takes forms similar to the caresses of one sex by
the other already described : — " After a while it (the young guillemot)
comes out (from under its mother's wing), and the mother, as she
stands by it, just stirs or nibbles the feathers of its face with the end
of her bill — an action which has all the spirit of wiping a child's face
or nose. The father now walks up, stops in front of the chick, bends
down its head and jodels. Then it lifts it up and jodels more loudly ;
then, stopping again, preens the chick's head and face a little with the
point of its bill, and nibbles at it affectionately." The chick then
makes a little excursion along the ledge by itself, and then toddles
back to its admiring parents, to be nibbled at and bowed and jodelled

over once more.3

How young guillemots and razorbills quit the cliffs for the sea is
a question about which there is still some difference of opinion. When

1 E. Selous, Bird Watching, p. 195.

2 Birds of Shetland, p. 248.

3 Bird Watcher in the Shetlands, p. 178.

28 THE AUKS

the exodus takes place, they are not fully fledged, and have little
strength in their wings, not enough to permit them to fly off to the
sea. Their usual method, according to the best available evidence,
is to flutter and slide and fall down the side of the cliff" to the
waters below, an appalling journey for so inexperienced and puny a
creature. That they should hesitate is not surprising. Their parents,
however, are strong-minded enough to jostle them along.1 Razorbills
have been seen jostling their young all the way down to the sea, from
foothold to foothold, so that the unhappy little birds went " rolling,
and tumbling and falling sometimes down steep cliffs."2 Professor
C. J. Patten corroborates this : " The young are apparently roughly
treated, being jostled and pushed off their ledges ; yet their fall is so
broken as they tumble and scramble down the face of the cliff that
they generally reach the water in safety."3 The evidence for the
statement that guillemots and razorbills will entice their young on to
their backs or seize them by the neck or wing and so carry them down
by force is contradictory, and rests largely on the observation of
fishermen, which is notoriously inexact. But it cannot be merely
disregarded. It may still be shown that the recalcitrant young are
treated in one or other of the above ways.

Perhaps the most noteworthy feature in the exodus of the young
is that it occurs before they are fledged. If they were in possession
of wings, like, for instance, the young gannet, the descent would
present no dangers, and several lives would be saved. It is difficult
to see what the species gain by this early flight, for the young are as
much exposed to enemies, the larger gulls for instance, on the sea as
on the cliffs, indeed more so. A possible explanation takes us once
more back to the ancestral plover. If it resembled the present
ground-nesting plovers, it would certainly have been in the habit
of leading its young from their exposed birthplace long before they

1 For the guillemot see C. J. Patten, Aquatic Birds, p.486; Naumann, Vbgel Mitteleuropas, xii.
222 ; Annals of Scottish Natural History, 1905, 146. For the razorbill the evidence is more
precise : C. J. Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 470 ; Zoologist, 1871, 2427, quoted in Yarrell, iv. 55 ; Irish
Naturalist, 1899, 132.

2 Irish Naturalist, 1899, 132 (E. M'Carron). ' Loc. cit.

THE RAZORBILL AND GUILLEMOT 29

were fledged. The instinct to do so may still survive in the razor-
bills and guillemots.

Their first experience of the water appears to be anything but
agreeable to the young. Professor Patten writes of the young razor-
bill: "It is amusing to watch the bewildered expression of the
youngsters when they receive their first ducking in the briny deep.
I have heard them crying in piteous accents for their fond parents,
who, out of their sight in the depths beneath, were diligently pursuing
fish to feed them." 1 The paucity of the evidence, and its contradictory
nature, makes it impossible at present to say with any certainty
whether the young dive and feed themselves instinctively, or whether
they have to learn. Naumann states explicitly that young razorbills
begin to dive for food in the water, though a few minutes before
accustomed to receive their food on the rock. He adds that the
parents do not feed them.2 This, however, is not the view of others.

The object of the parents appears to be to get their offspring away
to sea ; and as to the manner in which the razorbill does this we have
the following interesting first-hand evidence : " The old bird wants to
get the young one off to sea. The young one, apparently, does not
understand this, and merely swims about. The old bird seems excited,
swims round it and right off before it a few yards, then returns and
dives a few times round about it. At last it commences to peck and
tug and worry the young bird ; but it is so stupid that it cannot
understand. Hours are spent in this way, and little progress is made ;
at last the old bird dives down and comes up under the young one,
which is nicely poised on its back. In this way the mother swims off
to sea with its offspring, rising and falling with the heaving of the
billows until they are lost to view in the distance. This is no mere
hearsay — it is my own actual observation ; but my wife was the first
on the island to observe it." 3

In passing, it may be noted that, if the razorbill carries its

1 Aquatic Birds, pp. 470-1.

* Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 167.

3 Irish Naturalist, 1899, 135 (E. M'Carron)

30 THE AUKS

offspring on its back out to sea, it might well, on occasions, adopt the
same method in carrying it from the cliff to the sea.

That the young travel immense distances away from their natal
cliffs is shown by the fact that a " guillemot marked as a newly hatched
chick on the Aberdeenshire cliffs on July 11, 1910, was shot on
November 29, 1910, a dozen miles north of Gothenburg, Sweden.
This bird was thus four and a half months old when it was killed,
more than 500 miles due east of its birthplace." 1

The old continue to frequent the cliffs till August, when they
leave for the winter, to lead a roaming life on the open sea. Their
chief enemies at this time are heavy gales, which have the effect of
driving away the fish, and so rendering the birds less capable of
battling with wind and waves. Many are driven ashore, the beach
being sometimes strewn with their bodies for miles. It is remarkable
that, when amid the breakers, they make no attempt to escape by
flight, but go on diving through the incoming waves until exhausted,
when they are ruthlessly tossed ashore to feed the Gulls and Crows.2

THE GREAT-AUK
[R C. R JOURDAIN]

The opportunities of studying the life-history of this species have
passed away never to return, for since 1844 no living specimen has
been seen. The widespread but erroneous idea that it was an
Arctic form, whereas in reality it inhabited the temperate North
Atlantic, was responsible for vague surmises that in some unexplored
part of the Arctic seas it might still survive. However, the interest
which its disappearance from our fauna has added to the study of its

1 Circular of the Aberdeen University Bird Migration Inquiry. "Bird-marking," March 1,
1911 (J. A. and A. L. Thomson).

* Saxby, Birds of Shetland, p. 285 ; Ussher, Birds of Ireland, p. 356 ; Zoologist, 1872, 2994,
3023; Field, 1863, 392; Yarrell, British Birds, iv. 55 (4th edit.); Dresser, Birds of Europe, viii.,
article " Razorbill."

THE GREAT-AUK 31

history, and the careful sifting of the documentary evidence by such
men as the late Professor Newton, Professor Wilhelm Blasius, and
Symington Grieve, have resulted in a tolerably definite knowledge
of its former range, and no hope can now be entertained of its
existence in any part of the high north.

Meantime the literature of the subject has attained surprising
dimensions. Wilhelm Blasius, in the new edition of Naumann's
Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas, vol. xii. pp. 169-174, gives over
five folio pages of closely printed titles of works bearing on the
subject. The high prices reached in London auction-rooms by the
sale of the eggs have no doubt helped to stimulate public curiosity
on the subject, and perhaps the neglect and indifference through
which this interesting bird was allowed to perish unnoticed, have
been somewhat atoned for by the exceptionally careful way in which
its history has been studied since its disappearance.

The most important papers in English on the subject are those
by Professor Newton and Mr. Symington Grieve on its history,
and Professor Owen on its osteology ; while Mr. F. A. Lucas and others
have contributed to our knowledge of its American home. Among
Professor Newton's contributions we may mention the articles in the
Ibis, 1861, pp. 374-399 ; 1870, pp. 256-261 ; and 1898, pp. 587-592 ; his
papers in the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica on " Birds,"
vol. iii. pp. 734-735, and " Garefowl," vol. x. pp. 78-80, which may also
be found in the well-known Dictionary of Birds. The wonderful
series of eggs and casts now in the Cambridge Museum are described
in the Ootheca Wolleyana, vol. ii. pp. 364-383, and plates xiv.-xxi.
Symington Grieve's most important work is his monograph on The
Great Auk or Garefowl, published in 1885, to which supplementary
notes have been subsequently issued by the same writer. Professor
Owen's account of the skeleton of the great-auk will be found in the
Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, vol. v. pt. iv. (1865) pp.
317-335, pis. li., Hi., and map. Mr. F. A. Lucas has contributed papers
to the Auk for 1888, the Annual Report of the U. S. Nat. Mus., 1888-89,

32 THE AUKS

etc. But probably the most complete account is that of Professor
Wilhelm Blasius, referred to above (pp. 169-208). Published in 1903,
it contains practically all that was known on the subject up to that
date. Since that time remains have been discovered in caves and
kitchen-middens in various localities both in the British Isles and on
the Continent, and it is only in this branch of research that we can
hope for any further results.

As a British bird the great-auk was probably always a very local
and far from common species. Putting aside the reported occur-
rences which are unsupported by actual proof,1 the only evidence of its
occurrence off the English coasts is furnished by the discovery in 1878
of a quite unmistakable upper mandible among extensive deposits of
bones of various mammals and birds, as well as shells of molluscs, in
a cave at Whitburn Lizards, at the eastern extremity of the Cleadon
Hills, on the Durham coast. These remains were identified by the
late John Hancock (see R. Howse, Nat. Hist. Transactions of Northum-
berland and Durham, 1880, vii. pt. 2, pp. 361-364). In Scotland remains
are more numerous. Near Keiss, in Caithness, various bones were
discovered in kitchen-middens in 1864, which were identified by
Professor Owen (see S. Laing, F.S.A. Scot, Prehistoric Remains
of Caithness, 1866). In 1879-81 Messrs. S. Grieve and W. Galloway
explored a cone-shaped mound on Oronsay and obtained from it a
number of bones of the great-auk, of which a complete list will be
found in Grieve's monograph (see pp. 47-61). From this evidence
Mr. Grieve infers that at one time the garefowl was common in the
neighbourhood of Oronsay, and probably bred on the numerous rocky
islets near its shores. It is probable that a careful and systematic
exploration of the Hebrides would result in the discovery of many
other remains.

There seems to be no doubt that St. Kilda was formerly a regular

1 Such as those referred to in Hancock's Catalogue of the Birds of Northumberland and
Durham, p. 165, and S. Grieve's monograph, pp. 24, 25. It is also said to have occurred near
Lundy Island, on the coast of Cork, and in Belfast Lough (Yarrell, iv., edit. 4, p. 65). See also
Birds of Ireland, p. 360.

THE GREAT-AUK 33

breeding-place of this species. In 1680 Sir G. M°Kenzie refers to it
as occurring very frequently and breeding there, and Martin, who
spent three weeks on the island, says it arrives there regularly about
the 1st of May, breeding on the bare rocks, and leaving about mid-
June. Macaulay, who visited the island in June 1758, did not
actually see the bird himself, but on the authority of the islanders
states that " they do not receive annual visits from this strange bird,
as from all the rest on the list," from which it is clear that in his time
it was already much reduced in numbers. From this point onward
its diminution must have been rapid, for the last record from this
station is that furnished by Dr. Fleming (Edinburgh Philos. Journal,
x., 1824, p. 94). The bird in question was captured during the early
summer of 1821, by two young men and two boys, who were in a boat
on the east side of the island and saw it sitting on a low ledge of the
cliff. The two men then landed at opposite ends of the ledge, while
the boys rowed the boat to beneath the rock on which the bird was
sitting. Thus hemmed in on all sides, the bird jumped down towards
the sea, but fell into the arms of one of the boys, who managed to
hold it. The men then parted with the bird to Mr. Maclellan, the
tacksman of Glass or Scalpa, who gave it to Dr. Fleming on the eve
of his departure on 18th August from Scalpa, while on a tour of
inspection in the yacht of the Commissioners of Northern Light-
houses. " The bird," says Dr. Fleming, " was emaciated, and had the
appearance of being sickly, but in the course of a few days became
sprightly, having been plentifully supplied with fresh fish, and per-
mitted occasionally to sport in the water, with a cord fastened to one
of its legs to prevent escape. Even in this state of restraint it per-
formed the motions of diving and swimming under water with a
rapidity that set all pursuit from a boat at defiance." This bird is
believed to have made its escape near the entrance to the Firth of
Clyde while taking exercise in the sea.

From the Shetlands there seems to be no evidence of its occurrence,
though it is said to have been seen on Fair Island. In the Orkneys,

VOL. III. E

34 THE AUKS

however, we meet with it again, but only in small numbers, though
probably breeding. Low, who died in 1795, writes that he could find
no evidence of its presence in the Orkneys, but when Bullock
visited the islands in 1812, he was told that for several seasons a male
and female had regularly visited Papa Westray. The female had been
killed shortly before his arrival, and Bullock made desperate attempts
to capture the male, chasing it for many hours together in a six-oared
boat. The auk was so quick in diving, and moved so fast under water,
that though they frequently got near him, they were quite unable
either to shoot or capture him, and the pursuit had to be abandoned.
However, subsequently some fishermen managed to catch the un-
fortunate bird, which was killed and the body sent to Mr. Bullock, by
whom it was in due course transferred to the British Museum.
Professor Newton's researches l tend to prove that the breeding-place
of these birds was not on Papa Westray, but on the Holm, where
there are sloping slabs of rock shelving gently up from the sea,
sheltered from the winds and accessible even to flightless birds at all
states of the tide.

The Irish records still remain to be considered. Until com-
paratively recently nothing was known of the occurrence of this
species in Ireland beyond the immature bird captured in 1844. In
the kitchen-middens of White Park Bay, on the Antrim coast, Mr.
Knowles found in 1891 and 1895 numerous bones of great-auks,
associated with flint implements and shells of edible molluscs. Some
were scattered on the surface, and others were obtained by digging
(see Proc. Royal Irish Academy, i. No. 5, p. 625 ; iii. No. 4, p. 654 ; and
Irish Naturalist, 1899, p. 4). Similarly among the sandhills on Tramore
Bay, Co. Waterford, Mr. R. J. Ussher found, in 1897, in different
places among the extensive kitchen-middens, no fewer than seventeen
bones of the great-auk, representing at least six individual birds.
There is no doubt that the birds were used as food by the people who
made the kitchen-middens, and it is scarcely possible that so many

1 Ibis, 1898, p. 587.

THE GREAT-AUK 35

could have been obtained unless some breeding-place existed in the
vicinity. Probably, as Mr. Ussher suggests, the Waterford birds were
obtained from the low-lying Keragh Isles, though the encroachment
of the sea may have washed away any low islet then existing in
Tramore Bay. Rathlin Island may well have afforded similar hunting-
grounds to the dwellers on the Antrim coasts. Still more recently,
remains have been recorded from the coasts of Clare, and among the
sand-dunes at Rosapenna Mr. R. J. Ussher and Miss Weir found five
humeri in July 1910. l Only one occurrence of this species within
historic times is on record, namely, in May 1834, when a fisherman
named Kirby managed to entice an immature bird to close quarters
by throwing sprats to it, some miles to the west of Waterford Harbour.
It was then captured in a landing-net, and appeared to be half starved.
For some time after it would take no food, but potatoes and milk
were then forced down its throat, after which it ate voraciously. It
was fed chiefly on fish, which were swallowed entire, and trout were
preferred to sea fish. " This auk stood very erect, was a very stately-
looking bird, and had a habit of frequently shaking its head in a
peculiar manner, more especially when any food was presented to it :
thus if a small trout was held up before it the bird would at once
commence shaking its head." 2 This specimen was fortunately
preserved, and is at the present time in the Museum of Trinity College,
Dublin.

Most of what little we know of the breeding habits of this bird
will be found in the " Classified Notes," and need not be repeated here.
Although in some cases pairs appear to have bred on isolated
stations, as in the Orkneys, we know that when the bird was common,
as on Funk Island off the Newfoundland coast, very large numbers
were found breeding close to one another. No nest whatever was
made, the single egg being laid on the dung-covered rock. From the
fact that " brooding spots " have been found in skins of both sexes, it

1 See Irish Naturalist, 1910, pp. 171 and 195, pis. 10, 14.

2 Dr. Burkitt, quoted in the Birds of Ireland, p. 359.

36 THE AUKS

has been inferred that both male and female took part in incubation.
Some of the eggs now in existence show traces of a bluish green
ground-colour. Naturally in the course of years this colour would
have faded considerably, especially as many of them were kept as
ornaments and constantly exposed to the light. In this connection
it is interesting to note that Martin speaks of the eggs as " variously
spotted, black, green and dark." Probably when fresh they resembled
gigantic eggs of the razorbill, some showing a tendency to approach
the ordinary type of the guillemot in colour. At the present time it
is believed that there are about 73 eggs in existence, and probably
about 77 skins or mounted specimens.

The only sound which we know this bird to have made is a low
croak. They seem to have been inoffensive, never making the slightest
attempt to defend their eggs, but occasionally biting fiercely when
handled incautiously. From the fact that two specimens are known
to have been captured after being enticed to within a yard or two of a
boat, it is clear that these birds had no great fear of man. In fact, all
that we know of them seems to show that their intelligence was of a
low order, and probably only their extraordinary powers of diving and
swimming saved them from disappearing at an earlier period of history
from the Atlantic.

BLACK-GUILLEMOT
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

The black-guillemot is not, as its English popular name implies, a
member of the same genus as the common guillemot; it differs
from the latter both in its internal and external structure. The most
obvious external differences are in the shape of the bill and the
coloration of the plumage. In the breeding season the guillemot
has a somewhat Pickwickian aspect, owing to its expanse of white
breast. The plumage of the black-guillemot, on the other hand, is,

BLACK-GUILLEMOT 37

at the same period, greenish black all over, except on the wing, where
there is a bright white patch, which is conspicuous even when the bird
is under water. But the chief glory of the species is the vermilion-
red of the legs and of the inside of the mouth, which are in marked
contrast to the dark plumage.

The black-guillemot, unlike the other British breeding Auks, is
not found in large colonies, but this appears to be due rather to
its scarcity than to its objection to the society of its own kind.
Naumann's statement that it is gregarious, but not usually found
together in larger numbers than from twenty-five to thirty pairs, is
correct as far as the evidence goes.1 It is frequently found in smaller
numbers. In Ireland, for instance, as a rule, " one or more pairs only
are met with in the same place." 2 The relative scarcity of the species
is difficult to account for, the more so as, unlike its British breeding
congeners, it lays 2-3 eggs instead of only one. On the other
hand, it appears seldom to rear more than one chick.

The black-guillemot is less inclined to consort with other species
than are puffins, guillemots, and razorbills, but all four species may be
occasionally found nesting together.3 It is seen on the waters near
its breeding-haunts towards the end of February or in March, but it
does not appear to be in regular occupation of its nesting-place till
April.4 Naumann states that the birds arrive in pairs.5 Like their
congeners, the mated birds show their affection for each other by
billing and other caresses, which have yet to be exactly described,
and, according to one observer, by "dignified bowings."6

The regular pairing call of the species is a clear " ist, ist, ist" accord-
ing to Naumann, who also ascribes to it a whistling note.7 The latter
is probably the same as the " low plaintive whine," 8 or the " shrill,
rather faint whistle " 9 of other writers. According to Mr. Selous, " the

1 Vijgel Mitteleuropas, xii. 239. 2 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 366.

3 Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 491 ; Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 239.

4 Cf. Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1904, 23 ; Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 366 ; Naumann,
Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 240. 6 Loc. cit.

6 Job, Wild Ways, pp. 174-80. 7 Op. cit, p. 238.

8 Dresser, Birds of Europe, viii. 9 Loc. cit.

38 THE AUKS

cry is, for the most part, a weak, twittering sound, but occasionally
rises into a very feeble little wail or scream. All the while the bird
is uttering it, he keeps raising and again depressing his head and
opening his beak so as to show conspicuously the inside of his mouth,
which is of a very pretty rose or blush-red hue, almost as vivid as that
of the feet."1

Whether the cock feeds the hen is not recorded. Both share in
the incubation of the eggs,2 which are laid on the ground, no nest
being built. Both, again, share in feeding the young. " They bring,
each time, a single fish — a sand-eel, often of a fair size — and disappear
with it into the hole, reappearing shortly afterwards. . . . What I
particularly noticed was that when the bird that had taken a fish in
had come out again, the other, even though it had nothing, would
always go in too, as though to pay the chick a little visit. It stayed
about the same time — less than a minute that is to say."3

From this account, and Naumann's,4 it appears that the young
are fed on fish. The diet of the parents, as already noted, is said to
consist chiefly of crabs. In their method of pursuing their prey the
species does not seem to differ from the guillemot and other Auks,
unless it be that they make more use of the legs, which appears to
have been the opinion of Saxby. He states that after diving beneath
the surface, they move "quickly from rock to rock by the help
of feet and wings, turning aside the long weeds with their bills, and
after each capture of fish or crustacean, coming to the surface to
complete the process, seldom making another dive without half-rising
from the water, and flapping the wings to free them from superfluous
moisture."5 According to Mr. E. Selous, the wings only are used.
Saxby may have meant that the feet are used in turning, and this may
be true of the other Auks.

Saxby goes on to mention that " for some time after the descent

1 Bird Watcher in the Shetland*, p. 128.

3 Saxby, Birds of Shetland, p. 297 ; Naumann, op. tit., p. 240. See also " Classified Notes."

3 E. Selous, Bird Watcher in the Sfietlanda, p. 72.

4 Op. tit., p. 240. 6 Birds of Shetland, p. 297.

Plate 96

Upper: Black-guillemots and young
Lower: Little-auks in winter plumage

By A. W. Seaby

BLACK-GUILLEMOT 39

is made, the numerous air-bubbles clinging to the plumage give the
bird a singular but remarkably beautiful appearance.1 The average
duration of each submergence is as nearly as possible twenty-four
seconds, the bird making a slight sudden splash with its wings as it
disappears." He adds that it dives so quickly that it is not easy to
shoot on the water. Instead of diving, it often runs along the surface,
flapping its wings, and striking the water with its feet more quickly
than a coot.2

The black-guillemot differs from the other British breeding Auks
not only in laying two eggs, but in that the young quit the nest only
when able to fly,3 that is, leave it for the water, for, when a fortnight
old, they will come out of the holes and stand at the entrance to
receive food.* How long the young continue to be fed after they
have taken to the water is uncertain. So also are the winter move-
ments of the species. They are said to be less oceanic in their habitat
than their congeners ; they prefer sheltered waters along the coast to
the open sea.5 According to Naumann, they suffer considerably during
stormy weather, many being washed ashore dead. But in British
waters their bodies are rarely found among those of their congeners
tossed up on the beach, a fact which emerges very clearly from the
lists of casualties published after the great storms of February 1872. 6

1 The same applies more or less to most, if not all, diving birds.

2 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 366.

3 Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 490.

4 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 240.

5 Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 490 ; but cf. Naumann, op. cit., p. 240, who states that, while the
young of the year remain in the sheltered bays all the winter, the old remain on the open sea,
except when driven in by storms.

6 Zoologist, 1872, 2994, 3023. See also Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 490.

40 THE AUKS

THE LITTLE-AUK
[F. C. R JOURDAIN]

Although practically resident in the Arctic Ocean, from Baffin's
Bay eastward to Novaya Zemlya and the North Atlantic, moving some-
what northward during the breeding season and southward in the
winter months, this species occurs in most years in varying numbers on
our coasts. Sometimes only a few individuals are recorded from the
northern outposts, such as the Shetlands and Orkneys,1 while again at
other times a great body of southward-bound migrants pours into the
North Sea and along our east coasts. Very few comparatively find their
way along the western side of Scotland, but occasionally they have been
recorded in fair numbers, though not approaching those met with on
the east. One of the earliest invasions of which we have definite
information is that of 1841, when, after several days of stormy weather,
great numbers appeared off the Northumberland and Durham coasts,
as well as off Redcar in Yorkshire, while smaller numbers found their
way along all the eastern counties south to Kent and Sussex. There
is good reason to believe that in favourable winters these auks can
subsist in the northern seas without finding it necessary to resort to
land at all. A succession of stormy days, however, prevents them
from feeding, and in their weakened condition they are driven
exhausted and starving on to the nearest land. Many in this state
are drowned, but some take to flight and drift long distances inland.

Another visitation to the north of England took place in 1863,
when large flocks appeared off the Durham coast and at the mouth of
the Tees, and since that date several other important irruptions have
taken place. Of these, perhaps the most extensive was that of
1894-95. In January 1895 the weather was extremely severe, accom-
panied by snowstorms, and thousands of these unfortunate birds were
observed on their way south, drifting before the storm. Many were

1 Of. note on Migration, p. 10.

THE LITTLE-AUK 41

completely exhausted, and were picked up either dead or in a dying
condition, after their long struggle against wind and waves. Near
Redcar alone two hundred and fifty are known to have been found,1
and two hundred and eighty-five from Norfolk,2 but this can only
represent a small proportion of those which perished. One pecu-
liarity about this invasion is obvious from a consideration of the
Scottish records, namely, that though very few birds occurred on the
west side of Scotland north of Oban, a considerable number evidently
found their way down the Great Glen, no fewer than twenty-six
having been picked up in the environs of Oban itself. The irruption
of February and March 1900 was also on a large scale, but was chiefly
noticed along the Norfolk coast from the Wash to Lowestoft. Here
the numbers probably exceeded those of 1895, but the invasion was
confined to a smaller area. Of these three or four more important
irruptions, it is probable that that of 1841 was the most extensive,
while that of 1895 was also on a very large scale. The Scottish
records of 1895 will be found carefully studied and digested by Mr.
W. Eagle Clarke in the Annals of Scottish Natural History, 1895, pp. 97-
108, and by Mr. J. Paterson in the Proceedings of the Natural History
Society of Glasgow for the same year.

Apart from these occurrences, which are directly due to stress of
weather during the winter months, there is no reliable information as
to its presence with us at any other season,3 though a few examples
have been obtained in summer plumage. Its breeding haunts lie far
to the northward, and it has not been known to nest even on the
Faeroes, while on Iceland it is practically confined to Grimsey,
though possibly a few pairs may breed on the mainland.

The Grimsey colony is not a large one, apparently consisting only
of about one hundred and fifty to two hundred pairs, but farther north
it becomes more and more numerous. Enormous colonies of many
hundred thousands of pairs exist in Spitzbergen, Franz Josef Land,

1 Zoologist, 1895, p. 68. 2 Ibis, 1896, p. 276.

3 One in full plumage was, however, obtained in the Monach Isles, Outer Hebrides, on June
24, 1893.

VOL. HI. F

42 THE AUKS

the Greenland coasts, etc. The time of arrival at the breeding-places
seems to vary somewhat, and is recorded at different stations from
February 25 (Nansen), March 2 (Dr. Neale), and March 9 (W. S.
Bruce), while Pike did not notice it on Spitzbergen till March 28.
Rotches are extremely sociable birds, and are almost always to be met
with in flocks. When they reach their breeding-places they seem to
observe regular hours, setting out for the open sea to feed in a steady
stream, and returning later in broken lines to the rocks. During April,
May, and early June, W. S. Bruce notes that the breeding cliffs were
sometimes thickly tenanted, and again at other times apparently
deserted. After June 10, however, serious breeding operations began,
and from this time onward the rotches were regularly seen on the
cliffs. The breeding birds are accustomed to travel considerable
distances in search of food, so that one comes across flocks busily
engaged in feeding many miles away from the breeding-ground.
Chapman describes them as swimming rather deep in the water, and
" by the stern," while the Rev. A. E. Eaton gives an amusing descrip-
tion of the return of a feeding-party. " The rotche when it flies has
always the appearance of being rather behind its time : it seems in
such a tremendous hurry, and starts off with its mouth crammed full
of food, as if it had been suddenly called away in the middle of dinner.
You may see a party of them on the water — six or seven birds — take
wing together to return to their nests. You think they are all gone,
but you are wrong : for without pausing for an instant to see where-
abouts they are, Nos. 8, 9, and 10 come flying up from under water,
one after the other, and take after the others at full speed."1 As will
be seen from the above extract, the rotche is an expert diver : in fact,
he is somewhat disinclined to trust to his wings when disturbed by
the approach of a ship, and has a knack of splashing and scuttering
along the surface of the water, as if unable to fly, till he meets an
approaching wave, and promptly dives into it.2 Enormous flocks are
sometimes to be met with : a single shot has been known to bring

1 Zoologist, 1874, p. 3819. * Saunders, Manual, p. 706.

THE LITTLE-AUK 43

down no fewer than thirty-two birds ; and a party of three guns sent
out to procure food killed no fewer than twelve hundred and sixty-
three birds in five or six hours in mid- August.

Under water rotches use their wings just as in flying, and
Feilden notes "that the individuals in a diving flock kept their
relative distances and bearings under water with as much correct-
ness as if on the wing, and all returned to the surface within a
second of one another. During the breeding season the pouch-like
enlargement of the cheeks gives them a singular appearance. The
contents of the cheeks is a reddish-coloured substance, which on
closer examination is found to consist of immense numbers of minute
Crustacea." Colonel Feilden goes on to point out that the guillemots,
razorbills, and puffins, which live on fish, have no difficulty in trans-
porting food to their nests, but in the case of the rotche the bill is
useless for this purpose, while the breeding-grounds are in some
cases far inland, so that some structural modification is necessary
to enable it to transport food in sufficient quantity, and this has been
obtained by the distention of the cheeks.

At the breeding-grounds the food of these birds consists practi-
cally entirely of small Crustacea (Entomostraca). The red colour of
these minute organisms stains the droppings of the bird and causes
them to assume a vermilion tint, conspicuous against the snow, and
sometimes giving the first indication of their arrival.

The little-auk is a noisy bird, restless in its habits, and seldom
still. On the cliffs Hantzsch describes it as continually moving a step
or two and uttering its peculiar call. Malgrem says that the neigh-
bourhood of a breeding-place can be detected half a mile away by
these notes. The call has been variously written, " Rett, tet, tet, tet" or
" Perre, te-te-te, tett, tett, tett" and " Trrr, trrr, tet, tet, tet, trrr." Le Roi
describes the noise as somewhat resembling " Prrrrrrrr quiequiequie-
quiequie," and as it is uttered by hundreds of birds almost continuously,
it is naturally audible for some considerable distance. For its nesting-
place it chooses very similar sites to Mandt's guillemot. Some-

44 THE AUKS

times the two species may be found breeding together, though in
separate colonies. As a rule, the eggs are difficult to get at : they are
laid on the bare rock ; but deep down in crevices of the cliffs, or
underneath masses of boulders which form the talus. Many of the
cliffs where the rotche breeds are quite inaccessible, and even where
the holes are low down the friable nature of the rocks often makes
climbing dangerous, or the egg is so far down that it cannot be
reached by hand. By these means it manages to defy the Arctic
foxes, which are continually prowling about the foot of the cliffs.
Many auk cliffs are some distance from the sea. On Spitzbergen,
while Messrs. Trevor-Battye and Garwood were descending the well-
known Horn mountain on August 17, they met with a single little auk
at a height of about 3000 feet. It flew round and round, but just
below them as they looked down over an arete, evidently anxious about
its young, and uttering a twittering note. Only a single egg is laid as
a rule, but Mr. C. Ingram found two fresh eggs in one hole in Spitz-
bergen, while another was tenanted by two young about the same
age. It is of course possible that in both cases the single hole was
occupied by two hens, but as most birds had young at the time of his
visit, it is very remarkable that the two eggs were both fresh. Still,
in any case, these must be regarded as rare exceptions, and the vast
majority of birds lay one egg only. In colour it is a pale greenish
blue, sometimes unmarked and at other times spotted and streaked
with light rust colour, chiefly at the big end. The greenish ground-
colour tends to fade, leaving the shell a greenish white. The average
size of 92 eggs is 1'92 x 1*33 in. [487 x 33*9 mm.]. In Iceland the first
eggs may be found at the end of May, but the regular breeding time
is in early June, while in Spitzbergen probably the best time is about
June 18-21. Mr. C. Ingram states that though the nests contained
young, closely huddled rows of auks were sitting on ledges of the
cliffs, while others were flying round in small parties of ten to twenty
or more. While on the wing they were continuously giving vent
to weird laughing cries, but when close at hand they conversed

THE LITTLE-AUK 45

together with low, marmot-like noises. " When close to their nests
they would come and circle very near to my head, checking their
flight by holding out their webbed feet, and making short wing
strokes."1

On account of the situation of the nest, and the inaccessibility of
its breeding haunts, it is naturally difficult to obtain accurate data as
to the length of the incubation period, but Hantzsch estimates it at
about twenty-four days. There is no doubt that both sexes share in
the duty of incubation, for not only are breeding spots found in both
males and females, but Dr. Le Hoi caught many of both sexes on the
eggs. From early July onward the young may be found in the
nesting-holes, tiny little creatures, covered with uniform sooty or
almost black down. One taken by Mr. Ingram ate raw fish and meat
with avidity, after food had once been forced down its throat, and
learned to call eagerly whenever it heard him speak. He remarks
that it had a very curious habit of wagging its head from side to side
after every mouthful.2 At a later period, when half fledged, the
under parts are white, according to Saunders.

By the end of August most of the breeding-places have been
deserted by the young, which have now taken to the open water.
The larger gulls and the foxes have, however, taken toll of them on
their way. They do not disappear altogether from their most northerly
breeding-places till about the first or second week in September,
while Arnold Pike notes their last appearance in his winter diary on
Spitzbergen under the date October 13. Gradually the great flocks
move southward before the approach of winter, but as with the
millions of other Arctic rock birds, such as Briinnich's guillemot,
Mandt's guillemot, Arctic puffin, etc., we have no definite information
as to how or where they spend the winter months. Somewhere or
other in the sunless North Atlantic these hosts of birds must winter,
but even the thousands of storm-driven rotches which occasionally

1 Avicultural Magazine, New Series, vol. iii. (1894-95) p. 358.

2 Of. Dr. Burkitt's account of the behaviour of the great-auk captured alive off the Water-
ford coast, quoted in the Birds of Ireland, p. 359.

46 THE AUKS

drift down our eastern coasts can form but an infinitesimal fraction
of the vast multitudes which must spend the Arctic nights in as yet
unknown reaches of the northern seas.

THE PUFFIN
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

The puffin is one of the most singular birds that make their
home on the ocean. Its singularity, if one considers it well, seems to
lie in the striking contrast between the gravity of its demeanour and
the fantastic shape and harlequin hue of its beak. As it sits on the
top of some rock, presenting its white breast to the sea, it has some-
what the appearance of a pantomime Napoleon with a very large
and richly coloured false nose. The puffin's gravity and its beak or
neb are indeed responsible for most of the popular names which have
been bestowed upon it, such as pope, bottle-nose, and sea-parrot.
The shape of the beak has given it another name, coulterneb, for
it is supposed to resemble a coulter, the fore or cutting iron of the
plough.

In the air the bird has a more graceful appearance than either
of the Auk species — guillemots and razorbills — with which it consorts.
This is due to its markedly longer wings.1 It sometimes whirls about
with a lightness and agility that is almost deceptive. Like its
congeners it progresses with rapid strokes — its narrow wings vibrating
rather than flapping. Not that the Auks always fly with rapid beats.
I have seen both razorbills and guillemots quit the ledges with slow
measured flaps very unlike their ordinary movements, but am not
certain whether the puffin does the same. The periods in its flight

1 Razorbill— length 17 inches, wing length 7 '3 ; guillemot— length about 18 inches, wing 7'5 ;
puffin— length 13 inches, wing 6.

THE PUFFIN 47

when it is neither graceful nor imposing are those when it is quitting
the land or about to return to it. Then the webbed feet hang down
straddle-wise, and, as they happen to be large and unshapely, and of
a bright orange hue that renders them conspicuous, the general effect
is inartistic, not to say grotesque.

Puffins arrive on the waters near their breeding-haunts in March,
but do not busy themselves with their nest-holes till April. In the
meanwhile they appear to visit the rocks irregularly, or at least to be
present on the waters close to them, and disappear at night to sleep
on the open sea. But little is known of their habits at this period,
apart from the mere dates of their arrival.

Nor is much known of their love-displays. As might be expected,
the neb plays an important part in the proceedings ; pairs may
frequently be seen billing, also shaking their heads, nibbling each
other's plumage, and making grave little bows. Occasionally the
head is bent right down to the feet. The bird then seems to be
peeping through his legs at the prospect behind, and presents a very
comical appearance. When the guillemot bows to the ground, he
appears, as already described, to be about to push an invisible egg
under his breast. The difference is due to the fact that the latter
species generally stands on the whole foot,1 whereas the puffin, like
the generality of birds, stands on his toes. This, it is true, has been
disputed. The bird is said by Professor Patten to stand on the
toes only when alarmed, " the position generally depicted in ' photo-
graphs from nature.'"2 I should have put it the other way about:
when alarmed and preparing to take flight the birds will naturally flex
the leg in order to spring off, and so have the appearance of resting
on the tarsus ; otherwise they stand upon the toes, as I have
frequently had occasion to observe from a distance, and through a
strong field-glass, when they were not in the least alarmed, as
evidenced by the fact that I noted individuals among them indulging

1 See p. 27.

2 Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 499. See also for same error H. Saunders' Manual of British
Birds, 2nd ed., p. 708.

48 THE AUKS

in their love-displays.1 The species also walks on the toes with a
springing active movement.

The puffin is a comparatively silent species, and is often content
merely to open and close its particoloured beak, leaving the sound
to be taken for granted — a praiseworthy economy of energy, having
regard to the unmusical character of its utterances. These have been
described as a long-drawn, very grating " owk " or " ow" and a long-
drawn " oooo," something like the nocturnal call of a cat.2 What mean-
ings are to be attached to each have yet to be precisely determined.
The young bird, when handled, utters a piping note syllabled
as "yerp"3

Of all places for its nest-hole the puffin prefers the earth-clad
tops or sides of isles or cliffs. At the Fames, in the Longstone group,
for instance, it occupies the upper surface of one of the islands,
leaving the bare tops of the adjacent rocky stacks, known as the
Pinnacles, and the ledges on the steep sides of the island, to the
razorbills, guillemots, and kittiwakes. Similarly, the huge colony at
Mingulay in the Outer Hebrides nests in the earth on top of the
stack of Lianamull, beneath a dense crop of seeding sorrel, which
later on becomes, however, one sticky compound of mud, dung,
feathers, rotten eggs, and dead birds, ankle deep or deeper.4 Another
nesting-place, on one of the low-lying Scilly Isles, is shown on Plate
XLI. The nest is also to be found in the holes or crevices in
cliffs, or under loose stones or boulders. A photograph of the latter,
taken at one of the North Fames, is shown on the Plate above
mentioned.

The holes in the earth may either be made by the puffin itself or
be that of a rabbit. If the latter is in occupation of a hole that the
puffin has set its heart upon, there is a forcible eviction. The young

1 This view is corroborated by Mr. C. J. King, who in the course of twenty years' watching
of puffins on the Scilly Isles never saw them rest on the tarsus except when preparing to take
flight (in litt.), by Mr. O. V. Aplin and others, and is, I believe, generally accepted.

2 Zoologist, 1910, 41 (O. V. Aplin).

3 O. V. Aplin, loc. cit.

4 Harvie-Brown and Buckley, The Fauna of the Outer Hebrides, p. 166.

THE PUFFIN 49

rabbits, if there are any, are removed one by one by the ear or
neck, and deposited outside. Then follows a struggle with the old
rabbit, who has usually to yield to its adversary's beak. It is
"bitten "out.1

In excavating its own hole, the puffin uses its feet, scraping the
earth out backwards, so that it looks like " a fountain of dust blowing
up from the burrow." 2

The labour of excavating a new hole is, of course, unnecessary in
the case of most birds, as they return to their holes of the previous
year, which they clean out and refurnish. The frequent disputes and
fierce fights for holes which take place among the puffins themselves
seem to show either that some birds are too lazy to excavate, or that
there is not room for all. The fact that there are usually a large
number of non-breeding birds points to the latter conclusion. At
Lovunden in Norway, where there is a colony of some millions, the
non-breeding are said by Collett to exceed the breeding birds. At
another smaller colony the proportion of breeding to non-breeding is
given as 1 to 20. 3

Unlike the other British Auks, the puffin does not merely lay its
eggs upon the ground, but usually constructs a nest of grass, roots,
and feathers. According to Naumann, both sexes share in this
labour. The one whitish coloured egg is usually laid in May. The
bird can be drawn from its hole without resistance, and does not,
in fact, appear to bite or scratch till it is out, and can see clearly
what it has to deal with. Then it makes up for lost time.4

In June or later the chick, which is clad in thick jet-black down,
makes its appearance and is assiduously fed by both parents on
fish. These are caught by diving and swimming or flying under the
water. In its sub-aquatic movements the puffin resembles the other

1 Payne Gallwey, The Fowler in Ireland, p. 265. A detailed account of an eviction has yet
to be written.

2 P. Heatherley (in litt.).

3 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 234.

4 Cf. Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 255-6 ; Zoologist, 1901, 146.

VOL. III. G

50 THE AUKS

auks ; it uses its wings, the legs being trailed behind, as in flight.
Whether the legs are used to help in turning or steering is not clear
from the evidence. I have personally seen them trailing only. In
its method of carrying the fish the puffin resembles the razorbill ;
it brings to the nest half a dozen or so at a time, the heads and tails
forming a fringe on either side. The guillemot and the black-guillemot
carry one fish held lengthwise. To catch and hold one fish is easy
enough, but how are the puffin and razorbill able to catch the second
fish without losing the first, or the third without losing the other
two, and so on ? l

One explanation may be found in the fact that the palates of
the razorbill and puffin are furnished with rows of little pointed spines
directed towards the throat. Mr. C. J. King of St. Marys, Scilly, first
kindly drew my attention to the presence of these spines on the palate
of the puffin. It occurred to me that they ought to be present on the
palate of the razorbill. This I found to be the case, but I found it
also to be the case with the guillemot, which has no need of such an
apparatus, as, unlike its two congeners, it only catches and carries
one fish at a time. Further, I noted that all three species had the
spines at the posterior end of the tongue, and Mr. Pycraft, to whom I
sent the specimens, found that they had much larger spines a little
way down the throat, on either side and at the back. Neither here nor
at the back end of the tongue could the spines be of use for holding fish
carried in and across the bill. Palatal spines are found in nearly all
birds, though in some they are very small. It is the absence, rather
than the presence, of these excrescences that should excite comment.
Thus they seem to be absent among Accipitres, but present in the
Striges — birds with precisely similar feeding habits. In the penguins,
some species of which feed largely on minute Crustacea, others on
fish, they are of huge size, especially on the tongue.2 That the
spines have been developed for the purpose of giving a firm

1 The usual length of the fish caught by puffins is three inches, but they may vary in size
from 2 to 6 inches.— Zoologist, 1910, 41 (O. V. Aplin). " W. P. Pycraft (in litt.) .

Plate 97

Puffin bringing fish to its young

By A, W. Seaby

THE PUFFIN 51

grasp upon fish is, therefore, very improbable. That they have been
developed for some other reason, and yet assist, in the case of the
puffin and razorbill, to maintain the fish in place, is an arguable
position ; but even then it has yet to be proved that the spines are
large and strong enough to prevent a fish becoming detached from the
palate and upper mandible when released from the grip of the bill. A
more plausible theory is that the fish are held in place by the tongue
each time that the bill is opened. This is probably also what happens
in the case of birds, like Thrushes or Wagtails, which are able to seize
and hold yet another insect or worm without disturbing the bundle
already in the bill. As these species are without palatal spines, it
would be difficult to suggest any other explanation. And if the
explanation suffices for them, why should it not suffice for the puffin
and razorbill ? The palatal spines must, however, serve some purpose.
What this is may well remain an open question.

Whether the external shape and the size of the beak is of aid in
giving a firmer grip upon the fish is not yet clear, but in this connec-
tion it is instructive to note that the beak of the puffin and razorbill
are much alike in shape, and differ considerably from that of the
guillemot ; also that during the breeding season, that is at the time
when most fish have to be caught, the beaks of the first-named
species are actually larger in size than in the winter. This remark-
able fact was discovered, in respect to the puffin, by a French
zoologist, Dr. Bureau.1 He showed that after the breeding season,
in August, the basal half of the beak, the pieces constituting the
blue area, and the yellow line bordering the outer edge of the
blue (Fig. 1, B}, scale off in plates. I have, in fact, been able to
lift easily with a penknife the blue plate on the upper mandible of
a freshly killed specimen examined on June 22. Underneath it
was a fleshy layer or pad, which presumably hardens to form

1 Bulletin de la Sod6U Zoologique de France, vol. ii. 377-399. Translated in part in the
Zoologist, 1878, 233. The same observer found that similar changes take place in other species
of puffin and of related genera, for which see the Bulletin Soc. Zool. France, vii. 270 ; viii. 348.

52

THE AUKS

the surface in winter. With these plates disappears the horny,
whitish, curiously indented fillet along the base of the upper mandible
(Fig. 1, F), while at the same time the yellow rosette (Fig. 1, Y) at

Fig. 1.— PUFFIN IN SUMMER.

the gape becomes shrivelled and discoloured, and the appendages
above and below the eye disappear. The front half of the beak, con-
sisting of the red triangular end, the red ridges and three furrows,

Fig. 2.— PUFFIN IN WINTER.

remains unaltered (Figs. 1, 2, R). On examining skins of razorbills
at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, I found that this
species also showed in winter a distinct diminution in the size of
the posterior half of the bill, the part, that is, behind the median

THE PUFFIN 53

white transverse line (Figs. 3, 4). On the lower mandible, the part

of the beak next to the chin is visibly smaller, the result being to

make the underside of the mandible come

more distinctly to a point in its middle.

The fillet along the base of the upper

mandible disappears, as in the case of the

puffin (Fig. 3, *).

Having caught its fish, the puffin carries

Fig. 3.— RAZORBILL IN SUMMER.

them to its hole, and is said to drop them

before the young, and gives them to it one by one. Macgillivray

states that the newborn chick is fed by regurgitation, or receives

little pieces of fish which are placed in its

mouth, and that the larger pick up the pieces

from the ground at the entrance of the hole,

but he does not make clear whether he saw

this take place or accepted it on hearsay.1

Fig. 4.— RAZORBILL IN WINTER.

When, in July or August, the young are

ready to quit their hole they go fluttering, rolling, running, and
tumbling down to the sea.2 This is said to occur chiefly at night
or daybreak.3 Of their behaviour on reaching the water, and the
time of their departure, too little is recorded to be worth noting.
At the end of August, or later, both young and old have disappeared
out to sea. They are found in winter over the North Atlantic and
in the western Mediterranean.

The chief enemies of the puffins, apart from the gales which toss
them dead ashore, are the hawks and larger gulls. The peregrine
has been seen to snap up the young when they are old enough to
appear at the entrance to their holes for food.4 The remains of old
and young may be found all about the colony. The former are often
seized unawares as they are issuing from their nest-holes. Mr. C. J.

1 History of Birds, v. 372.

2 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 369(M'Carron) ; Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 500.

3 Ussher and Warren, loc. cit. * Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 369.

54 THE AUKS

King writes me that the lesser blackbacked-gulls " watch at the mouth
of the nesting-hole, and, as the puffin comes out, lay hold of it by the
back of the neck, shake it like a terrier shakes a rat, and when they
have killed it, disembowel it and leave the empty carcase. A year or
two ago," he continues, " I collected within a radius of about fifty or
sixty feet a heap of about thirty of these victims." Herring-gulls and
lesser blackbacks have been seen to push their heads down the holes
and pull out the young, and the great blackbacked-gull will boldly
seize an adult puffin from among those in the midst of which it
happens to be standing. Of this more will be said in the chapter on
these Gulls.

THE TERNS

[ORDER : Charadriiformes. FAMILY : Laridce. SUBFAMILY : Sternince]
PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES

[F. C. R. JOTTRDAIN. F. B. KIRKMAN. W. P. PYORAFT. A. L. THOMSON]

BLACK-TERN [Hydrochelidon nigra (Linnaeus). Starn or stern, black-kip,
coal-kip, blue-darr, carr-swallow, carr-crow. French, guifette noire ; German,
schwarze Seeschwalbe ; Italian, mignattino~\.

I. Description. — The black-tern is to be distinguished from its congeners,
when in its summer dress, by its pale grey under wing-coverts, upper tail-coverts and
tail, and black bill ; in winter plumage it resembles the whiskered-tern, having the
rump grey, like the back, but it differs from the whiskered-tern in its smaller size,
more slender bill, and in having the webs of the toes less deeply encased. (PI. 98.)
The sexes are alike. Length 9'5 in. [241*30 mm.]. In summer the head, neck, and
breast are black, the rest of the upper parts dark slate-grey, paler on the wing-
coverts, which along the carpal bend of the wing are white ; the shafts of the
primaries are white. The upper tail-coverts and tail feathers are of a pale slate
colour. The under parts are leaden grey, the hinder flank and under tail-coverts
white. Beak black, feet and toes reddish brown. After the autumn moult the
forehead is white, the hinder crown and nape black but " frosted " with white,
and the side of the face, neck, a collar round the hind-neck, and the under parts
are white, more or less intermixed with grey. In the juvenile (fledgling) dress the
crown, sides of the face, and interscapulars are sooty black, in some cases slaty black ;
the wings light slate, the coverts being tipped with dark brown, while the whole of
the exposed portions of the inner secondaries are of a dark brown ; the primaries have
each very narrow white lines along the inner web, and the tail feathers are tipped
with brown. The under parts are white, but the upper flanks are slate-grey. This
is succeeded by a plumage in which the mantle and wings are French grey, strongly

56 THE TERNS

washed with brown and with broad coffee-brown margins to the interscapulars and
scapulars. Marginal wing-coverts black — white along the free edge of the anterior
border — the rest of the coverts and quills dark grey. The forehead is white,
washed with rust colour, crown and sides of the head slaty black with a tinge of
brown ; the hind-neck is grey, the sides of the neck white, washed with rust colour,
the rest of the under parts being white, save the anterior flank-feathers which
are slate-grey. The young in down is of a rich buff above, with broad conspicuous
black markings representing disintegrated median and lateral longitudinal stripes.
The pattern on the head forms a more or less complete black ring on the crown, a
longitudinal stripe on the nape, bounded on either side by two black spots. The
fore-neck is white washed with brown, and the breast and abdomen are dull
white, [w. P. P.]

2. Distribution. — Though formerly a common summer resident in the Fens
and the Norfolk Broads, and reported as having bred in the Solway marshes, the
black-tern has not been known to breed in England since 1858, when a pair nested
at Sutton in Norfolk. At the present time the breeding range of this species on
the Continent extends to Southern Sweden (north to Upland), the islands of Oland
and Gotland in the Baltic, and Russia up to lat. 61° on the west side and 58° on the
east. From these limits it is fairly general in marshy districts southward over the
rest of the Continent, though very local in France, breeding in some numbers in
Southern Spain, but only found in the marshes of Northern Italy, and absent from
the south of the Balkan Peninsula. • It does not breed in the Mediterranean islands,
except in the Balearic Isles, and there is no reliable evidence of its nesting in North
Africa at the present time, while in. Asia it visits Western Siberia and is found east
to about 85° long., but not farther south than the shores of the Caspian. Its winter
quarters lie in tropical Africa — on the west side Gambia, Liberia, Fanteeland,
Kamerun, the Congo district, and Angola, on the east side it migrates through
Egypt and Nubia to Kordofan, Abyssinia, British and German East Africa. In
North America it is replaced by a closely allied form, H. nigra surinamensis,
whose winter quarters extend southward to Chile and Peru. [F. c. E. J.]

3. Migration. — A bird of passage, presumably on its way from it winter
quarters to the Baltic countries ; formerly also a summer visitor and a British
breeding bird. In April and May it occurs in small numbers ori the south coast
of England and on the east coast south of the Humber ; records from other parts
are exceptional. It is also a casual visitor during the summer months, presum-
ably from Holland. In August and September a more noticeable passage occurs,

PLATE XLII

Plioto by W. Farren

Black-tern's nest

Photo by F. B. Kirkman

Sandwich-tern s nests in marram grass at Ravenglass

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 57

consisting mainly of immature birds in small parties. At that season the birds are
more widespread, occurring irregularly in Ireland, and they also penetrate some
distance inland along the rivers. A few may linger as late as November in the
south-west (cf. Saunders, III. Man. B. B., 2nd ed., 1899, p. 633 ; and Ticehurst,
B. of Kent, 1909, p. 490). [A. L. T.j

4. Nest and Eggs. — Although no longer one of our breeding species, the
black-tern continues to visit us occasionally in the summer months. Its nest
consists merely of a few water-weeds and decaying vegetable matter, built up till
just above the level of the shallow water, and partly supported by rushes and other
growing water-plants. (PI. XLII.) The materials are provided by both sexes. The
eggs are usually 3 in number, occasionally only 2, and are olive-green or ochreous
in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with irregular markings of very dark sepia,
almost black, and purplish grey underlying shellmarks. (PI. H.) Average size of
100 eggs, 1'35 x *97 in. [34'5 x 24'8 mm.]. The nests are generally to be met with in
colonies of varying size, and are found in shallow lakes or marshes overgrown with
water-lilies, rushes, and other forms of aquatic vegetation. The usual breeding
time is from about May 20 to the first week of June in Central Europe, but in South
Spain eggs may be found by the middle of May. Naumann states that both sexes
incubate in turn, but the hen alone at night, and that the incubation period lasts
14-16 days.1 Only one brood is normally reared in the season, but if the first
clutch is taken, another is deposited soon afterwards. [F. c. E. J.]

5. Food. — Chiefly aquatic insects and their larvae, also land insects, earth-
worms, and occasionally, according to Naumann, little frogs, spawn, and small
fish. [F. B. K.]

COM! 3VI O N - T E R N [Sterna hirundo Linnaeus ; Sterna fluvidtilis Naumann.
Sea-swallow, sparling, skrike (generic), kip (Kent). French, hirondelle de
mer, Pierre-Garin ; German, Fluss-Seeschwalbe ; Italian, rondine di mare'].

I. Description. — The common-tern is to be distinguished by the orange-red
colour of the beak, which is black-tipped, the pale vinaceous grey under parts, the
broad band of dark grey which runs along the inner side of the white shaft of the
outer primaries (see Arctic-Tern, p. 61), and the length of the tarso-metatarsus,
which is longer than the middle toe minus the claw. (See also p. 76.) The
sexes are alike, and there is an incomplete winter, as distinct from the summer,

1 See, however, notes on the incubation period under sandwich and little-tern.
VOL. III. H

58 THE TERNS

dress. (PL 99.) Length 14-25 in. [361-94 mm.]. The forehead, crown, and nape
are black, the interscapulars, scapulars, and wings are of a dark pearl-grey, the
rump and tail feathers white, the latter tinged with grey along the outer webs,
darkest on the " streamers." The outermost primary has the outer web dark
slate colour, the inner with a band of dark grey along the shaft, the rest of
the web being white except towards the tip, which is dark ash-grey ; inner
primaries paler grey with white " wedges." The secondaries are tipped with
white. The throat is white, the rest of the under parts pale lavender-grey.
The beak is orange-red, dusky at the tip ; the legs and toes coral-red. After the
autumn moult the fore-part of the crown becomes largely intermixed with white,
and the under parts are almost pure white. In the juvenile plumage the pearl-
grey of the upper parts is darker than in the adult, and obscured by broad terminal
fringes of deep buff and subterminal bars of slaty black. The forehead and fore-
part of the crown are buff coloured, and the hind-crown and nape dull black ;
the lores are also black. The inner secondaries are tipped white, and have
subterminal loops of dark brown. Primaries much darker than in the adult, and
with subterminal bars of dull slate-black, and a strongly marked white line along
the free edge of the inner web. Tail much darker grey than adult. In some
individuals the mantle is marked with wavy lines of black and brown, and the
hindmost scapulars and inner secondaries have conspicuous loops of dull slate-
black alternating with loops of white. In such birds the white of the forehead
is thickly spotted with dark grey obscuring the white. The inner wing-coverts
are powdered with black and buff. In other individuals the black is conspicuous
by its absence and the pearl-grey clouded with brown, as also are the forehead
and fore-part of the crown, but the lores, hind-crown, and nape are dull black.
After the autumn moult the only sign of immaturity is a band of dark grey
across the upper wing-coverts. The young in down (protoptyle) are of a pale
smoke-grey, tinged with buff, except the cheeks, which are pure grey. This
ground-colour is relieved by black markings, which on the back may form two
indistinct longitudinal stripes. In some chicks the ground-colour of the upper
parts is much deeper. A live specimen noted at Romney was dusky buff with an
unusual number of black irregular markings (F. B. Kirkman). The same varia-
tion has been noted at Ravenglass (H. W. Robinson, British Birds, iii. 169). Both
at the latter colony (loc. cit,) and at Muskeget, off the New England coast, the
chicks have been noted to vary in the coloration of the legs, some having them
reddish, others flesh-coloured or yellowish (G. H. Mackay, Auk, xiii. 52). The

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 59

examination of a large number of live chicks shows that they vary in the colora-
tion of the chin, most having black chins with a small white patch at the base of
the lower mandible, some no black. The black grows lighter with age, becoming
grey and then white (T. A. Coward, in litt.). The under parts are white,
[w. P. P.]

2. Distribution. — In the British Isles this species is widely distributed
where the coast furnishes suitable breeding ground, but in Scotland and the north
of England, as well as in Ireland, its range overlaps that of the Arctic-tern, which
outnumbers it in Northern Scotland. Both species are also found breeding on the
Irish coasts, but the common-tern is the more numerous species in the south of Great
Britain, though absent from some districts, such as the Devon and Somerset coasts.
As both the common and Arctic terns are somewhat capricious in their choice of
breeding-places, and are apt to shift their ground from year to year, it is difficult
to define their respective ranges accurately. In the Outer Hebrides the former
is by no means common, but has long been known to breed in the Orkneys, and
since 1901 has nested also in the Shetlands in some numbers. South of the Fames
on the east side of England, and Anglesey on the west, it practically replaces the
Arctic-tern altogether, though apparently both species formerly bred on the Scillies.
In Ireland it is less numerous than the Arctic-tern, and shows a greater tendency
to breed on fresh-water lakes. On the Continent its range extends over the coasts,
lakes, and larger rivers from the North Cape of Norway and the White Sea, south
to the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. It is also found in the Canaries and
Azores, and along the coast of North Africa, while in Asia it occurs in the Ob and
Yenesei valleys, and south to Transcaspia and Mesopotamia, but in Central Asia
and the Lena valley it is replaced by other forms. In North America it is plentiful
on the Atlantic side from Labrador south to Texas. The winter range in the Old
World extends over the Continent of Africa south to Cape Colony, and in Asia to
India, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula, etc. ; while in America it has been recorded
exceptionally as far south as Bahia, Brazil, but generally reaches the northern States
of South America (Venezuela, Guiana, etc.). [F. c. R. j.]

3. Migration. — A summer visitor. The earliest arrivals on the Kentish
coast occur in the second week in April, and the birds continue passing northward
till the middle of May (cf. Ticehurst, Birds of Kent, p. 501). They were reported at
Blakeney, Norfolk, in 1910, on April 28 (cf. Zoologist, 1911, p. 174), and at Raven-
glass about April 25. They seldom appear on the Welsh coast until the last week
in April (cf. Forrest, Fauna of N. Wales, 1907, p. 374), and Ireland and Scotland

60 THE TERNS

are seldom reached until May. The southward passage lasts from August to
October, during which period they are seen not only along the coast, but inland
(cf. O. V. Aplin, Birds of Oxfordshire, p. 166). Few remain till October, and some
have reached the Spanish and Portuguese coasts by September (see below).
The species is scheduled in the B. 0, C. Migration Reports, but very little definite
information has as yet been collected. As regards habits, the species is said to
appear at its summer haunts in the morning, having arrived during the night, the
numbers increasing nightly for ten or twelve nights (Migration Report, 1883, p. 45).
Several interesting records of marked common-terns recovered, exist : (1) marked
at Ravenglass, Cumberland, July 30, 1909, recovered at Espina, Galicia, Spain,
September 21, 1909 ; (2) marked at Ravenglass July 23, 1910, recovered
25 miles south of Oporto, Portugal, about September 12, 1910 ; (3) marked at the
Hook of Holland July 16, 1910, recovered at Boulogne, France, September 1, 1910
(cf. Witherby, British Birds, iii. p. 219, and iv. p. 179). [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — The nesting-sites vary extraordinarily : off the west
of Scotland one may find large colonies breeding on the bare, water-worn rocks ;
in East Anglia and other parts the eggs are laid on the great shingle-beds close to the
sea ; in Holland the nests are sometimes on short meadow grass or in sandy mud-
flats in the polders, and at other times floating on the surface of fresh-water meers
inland. In some cases there is no lining whatever, a natural cavity in rock being
used or a hollow in sand : at other times dry bents, bits of dead reed, and other
vegetable matter are carelessly arranged. (PI. xuu.) The eggs are 2 to 3 in
number, generally the latter ; but I have several times seen 4 or 5 together, pro-
bably laid by more than one bird. The ground-colour varies from dull greyish to
ochreous and brownish, blotched and spotted, sometimes boldly and richly, but
more often rather sparingly with dark blackish brown and underlying ashy grey.
Some eggs when first laid have a very beautiful blue ground, which unfortunately
soon fades, and a distinctly red variety also occurs on rare occasions. (PI. H.)
Average size of 108 eggs, 1-61 x 1-19 in. [40' x 30'2 mm.]. Incubation commences
as soon as the first egg is laid, and apparently lasts 20-21 days from the date of
the full clutch. This is confirmed by W. Evans's observations on eggs hatched
in incubators, which hatched on the twenty-second and twenty-third days.
Naumann states that both sexes incubate, but chiefly the hen, who also broods
during the night. In fine sunny weather the eggs are left uncovered for long
periods. Saunders states that exceptionally eggs have been found by May 15;
but this is very unusual, and as a rule they are laid about the beginning of June,

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES

61

but in the north often not till the middle of the month. Only one brood is reared
in the season. [F. c. R. j.]

5. Food. — Chiefly small fish, aquatic insects, and small crustaceans. In
twenty-one stomach contents examined by Rorig were found fish remains, small
gnats (Miicken), flies, dragon-flies, and earwigs (Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi.
133). Earthworms are said to be sometimes taken. The young are fed by both
parents, chiefly on small fish. At Ravenglass these were found to be chiefly young
herrings, but "many small whiting were found, and also a few young codling,
lumpsuckers, and long rough dabs, and, although the colony was bounded on one
side by a river famous for its Salmonidce, no trace of the young of these fish was
found at all on the ground" (H. W. Robinson and F. W. Smalley, British Birds, iii.
169). [F. B. K.]

ARCTIC-TERN [Sterna paradiscea Briinnich ; 1 Sterna macrura Naumann.
Sea-swallow, sparling, skrike (generic), tarrock, piccatarries (Shetlands).
French, hirondelle de mer arctique ; German, Kiisten-Seeschwalbe ; Italian,
rondine di mare coda lunga].

i. Description. — The Arctic-tern may readily be distinguished from the
common-tern by the uniform blood-red colour of the beak,
the dark grey of the under parts, longer tail streamers,
the shorter tarso-metatarsus, which does not exceed the
length of the middle toe minus the claw, and by the
narrower width of the grey band along the shafts of the
outer primaries. (See accompanying figure, and also
p. 76.) The sexes are alike, and there is a more or less decided seasonal change
of coloration. (PL 100.) Length 14-5 in. [368-30 mm.].
The adult, in summer, has the top of the head, from the
base of the beak backwards to the nape, black, the rest
of the upper parts dark pearl-grey, fading into white on
the lower rump and upper tail-coverts. The tail is white,
but the feathers have a faint grey tinge on the outer
webs, and dark grey outer webs to the outermost elongated feathers or " streamers."
The outer web of the outermost primary is blackish, and along the inner side

1 Brtinnich's name as given above was published in 1764, two years before the issue of the
12th edition of Linnseus. It was therefore ignored by Saunders, who made the 12th edition
of the Syst. Nat. his starting-point, but must now be adopted in accordance with the rules of
the Fifth International Zoological Congress. [F. c. B. j.]

1. COMMON-TBRN'S PRIMARY.

2. ARCTIC- TERN'S PRIMARY.

62 THE TERNS

of the shaft runs a band of grey, much narrower than in the common-tern,
leaving the rest of the web white save near the tip, where it is grey. The
under parts are of a dark grey save the throat and under tail-coverts, which are
white. After the autumn moult the black of the fore-part of the crown becomes
intermixed with white, and the under parts are paler. The fledgling resembles
the young of the common-tern at the same age, and can be distinguished
therefrom only by the dark grey colour of the outer tail feathers. After the
autumn moult the young resemble the adults in winter, having the forehead and
crown nearly white, but a dark grey band on the upper wing-coverts, more grey
on the outer webs of the tail feathers, and the under parts white. The young in
down, like those of the common species, show variation in their coloration. The
ground-colour of the upper parts is (1) either creamy white, white, or greyish, or (2)
shades of buff. In both the markings are black, and the under parts white with a
greyish tint about the flanks and vent. The coloration of the throat varies in the
same type, and no doubt changes with growth. It is usually black or dusky. The
legs and beak vary from red to flesh colour. The beak has a dusky tip, which
is lost later (N. F. Ticehurst in British Birds, iii. 200 ; F. B. Kirkman, in litt.
Observations based on live specimens), [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — In Great Britain this is a more northerly breeding bird
than the common-tern, and does not nest south of the Fames on the east coast of
England, nor along our southern shores. There was, however, formerly a large
colony on the Scillies, but at the present time the southern limit of this species on
the Welsh coast appears to be the Skerries and the Anglesey coast. On the western
coast and islands of Scotland it is very plentiful locally, and is also common in the
Shetlands and Orkneys, while it is the predominant species in Ireland, many large
colonies existing on marine islands. On the whole it is less of a fresh- water haunting
species than the common-tern, but colonies are known on Loughs Corrib, Mask, and
Carra in Ireland, as well as in the Orkneys. Outside the British Isles it breeds in
the Faeroes, Iceland, Franz Josef Land, Spitzbergen, Scandinavia from Bergen
northward along the Norwegian coast to Lapland ; Lake Onega, the lower Dwina
and Petchora, in the Baltic on the coasts of Finland, Esthonia, and Sweden ; Den-
mark, the N. Frisian Isles, while recently colonies have been discovered in Holland.
In Asia it is found along the N. Siberian coast and the main river valleys east to the
Kolyma Delta, Chukchiland, and the Anadyr and Commander Isles, and, according
to Radde, also in Baikalia, while in N. America it breeds in Greenland to over 82° N.,
the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and the Atlantic coast south to Massachusetts. The
winter range of this species in Africa extends to Cape Colony and even as far south

PLATE XLIII

Hioto by 1-. li. K is km, m

Well-lined common-tern's nest in marram grass (Walney)

Photu by 1-. B. Kirkinan

Arctic-tern sitting: on its neat in bare sand (Walney)

Photo by J. Atkinso

Photo by J. Atkinson

Little-tern's nest lined with pebbles

Little-tern'a nest in bare sand

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 63

as 74° 1' lat. (Ibis, 1907, p. 345), 1 while specimens have been obtained in lat. 66° S.
beyond New Zealand, and off the coasts of Peru, Chile, and Brazil in S. America.
[F. c. B. j.]

3. Migration. — A summer visitor. In spring migrants are seen passing
north along the coast of Kent from mid-April onwards (cf. Ticehurst, Birds of
Kent, p. 503). A few early arrivals are generally recorded from Lancashire in
the last week of April (cf. B. 0. C. Migration Reports). In 1911 the first arrivals
reached the Fames on April 21 (H. A. Paynter). The usual time of arrival
for the majority of the birds is the end of April and early May ; in Scotland
later. The date given for the Outer Hebrides is mid-May (Harvie-Brown and
Buckley, Fauna of Outer Hebrides), and for the Orkneys May 14-18 (Annals
Scot. Nat. Hist., 1904, p. 23). The departure extends from August till October, but
precise records are lacking. A passage along our coasts of Arctic-terns summering
farther north may be presumed to exist, but there is no information on this head
either. An Arctic-tern marked as a chick on the Fame Islands on July 17, 1909,
was caught at the Barns Ness Light, East Lothian, on August 23, 1909 (cf. Country
Life, October 16, 1909, p. 543). A young Arctic-tern marked on Sylt (North
Frisian Islands) on June 27, 1911, was picked up near Pontefract, Yorkshire, on
August 20, 1911 (cf. Weigold, quoted by Witherby, British Birds, vol. v. p. 130).
[A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — The breeding colonies of this species are sometimes
to be found on sand-banks or shingle-beds, at other times on bare rocks, and occasion-
ally near the shores of lakes on ground covered with a scanty vegetation. In the
Orkneys it has been found breeding on grass and in cornfields (Annals of Scot. Nat.
Hist., 1892, p. 78). Sometimes no nest whatever is made, the eggs being laid in
natural hollows of the lichen-covered rocks or in scratchings in the sand. At other
times a little grass, blossoms of thrift, a few bents or bits of seaweed and wrack are
used to line the nest hollow. Some Shetland nests are described as thick structures
of broad herbage : one built of seaweed was 8 inches across. (See also article by
F. B. Kirkman in British Birds, ii. p. 78, on variation in type of nest, and photos.)
(PI. XLHI.) The eggs vary in number from normally 2 to occasionally 3 ; in many
localities 2 are almost universally found. Thus T. E. Buckley states that in the
Orkneys the clutch consists of 2 only, while on the east Sutherland coast 3 are
frequently laid. Clutches of 4 eggs are the produce of more than one hen. They

1 Richenow (Ornitholog. Monntsber. 1907, p. 107) holds the opinion that these birds are
Sterna antistropha, a closely-allied species, or more probably sub-specific form, whose breeding
grounds are unknown, but apparently exist somewhere in the southern hemisphere. See also
Deutsche Siidpolar-expedition, 1901-1903. Vogel des Weltmeeres, p. 463 (A. Reichenow). [F. c. R. j.]

64 THE TERNS

are more variable in colour and markings than those of the common-tern, the
ground-colour ranging from deep rich red-brown through all shades to pale stone
colour and light blue. On the average the markings are also richer and bolder,
and the average size is rather less, but some undoubted eggs of the common-tern
are quite as small and richly marked as any Arctic-tern's eggs. (PI. H.) Average
size of 116 eggs, 1*6 x T16 in. [40'8 x 29'5 mm.]. Incubation lasts 20 days accord-
ing to Mr. F. G. Paynter, and Naumann states that both sexes brood in turn but
the hen alone during the night, though during bright and sunny weather the eggs
are left exposed for long periods. Naumann's statement that the incubation
period in the case of this species (and also the common- tern) lasts only for 15-16
days cannot be relied upon. The breeding season is slightly later than that of
the common-tern, and in the British Isles eggs are rarely to be found before the
beginning of June or the end of May at the earliest, but on the west coast of
Jylland I found birds just beginning to lay on May 12, an exceptionally early
date. Only one brood is reared during the season. [F. c. B. J.]

5. Food. — Small fish, small floating crustaceans, insects and their larvae, earth-
worms. Mr. H. C. Hart, in his account of the " Ornithology of the British Polar
Expedition, 1875-76" (Zool, 1880, p. 206), states that at Musk Ox Bay, at 81° 45'
N. lat., their " chief food was green caterpillars " (Argynnis chariclea and the
larvae of Tipula arctica). The young are fed by both sexes, chiefly on small fish,
and sometimes on earth-worms and insects. An instance of the species feeding its
young on crane-flies, greendrakes, and May-flies is given in British Birds, iii. 91,
by Mr. Wm. C. Wright — and on earth-worms by Mr. J. Tomison in the Annals
of Scottish Natural History, 1904, p. 23. [F. B. K.]

ROSEATE-TERN [Sterna dougdlli Montagu. French, sterne de Dougatt ;
German, Dovgalls-Seeschwalbe ; Italian, rondine di mare del MacDougatt].

I. Description. — The roseate-tern bears a close likeness to the common-
tern, from which, however, it may be distinguished by the long and slender black
beak, the relatively shorter wings, wherein the inner webs of the primaries are white
to the tips, the relatively longer and more deeply forked tail, and the rosy-tinted
breast. There is a scarcely perceptible seasonal change of coloration, and the sexes
are alike. (PI. 101.) Length 15 -5 in. [393-69 mm.]. The adult, in summer dress, has
the top of the head and nape black, the pearl-grey of the upper parts paler than in
the Arctic and common terns. The white inner margins of the primaries extend to

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 65

the tips of the feathers and round to the outer web for a short distance, and the
white of the under parts is suffused with a delicate rose-pink. The beak is black,
with a small patch of orange at the base, and the legs and toes are red. In winter
the forehead is more or less white, and the rose-pink of the breast is only faintly
traceable. The fledglings may be distinguished from those of the common and
Arctic terns by the white on the inner webs of the primaries, which indeed is dis-
tinctive at all stages and in both sexes. Skins of downy young, examined at the
British Museum, have the upper parts buff, mottled with grey and white, and the
under parts dull white. Live specimens examined by Mr. G. H. Mackay (Auk, xiii.
47) were grey, white, and black on the upper parts, and whitish under. Their
legs and feet were black. The beak pinkish flesh colour, with black tip. This
points to dimorphism, [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — In the British Isles this is now an extremely local
species, but one very populous colony still exists within our limits, although
the indiscriminate protection afforded there to both the roseate and the common
tern may prove prejudicial to the rarer species. In England, although care-
fully protected on the Fames since 1888, only two pairs were breeding in 1899, and
in 1900 only one pair (see Zoologist, 1902, p. 52). It has been seen off the Norfolk
and Suffolk coasts in the breeding season, but has not been proved to breed
there except casually, and formerly a colony existed on the Scillies, which has
now disappeared. There is, however, a colony on the Skerries, and another
much larger colony also exists in North Wales, where the numbers are well
maintained. The Walney and Foulney Islands are now deserted ; and in Scotland
it no longer breeds in the Firth of Clyde, but Mr. O. A. J. Lee found two pairs
breeding on the Culbin Sands in Moray in 1887. In Ireland the breeding colonies
off the Dublin and Down coasts have long ceased to exist, but there is a possibility
that it still nests among the other terns on the west coast, although proof is still
wanting. On the Continent it breeds on the coast of Brittany, and is said to nest
in Holland, but this statement requires confirmation. It undoubtedly breeds in
South Tunisia, possibly in Madeira, and in large numbers on islands off the Somali
coast, between the Seychelles and Mauritius, and in the Andaman Isles, where it is
said to be represented by a small race. Another local form also breeds in Eastern
Asia, Japan, Fokien, etc., and large colonies exist on Houtmans Abrolhos, as well
as in the Moluccas and New Caledonia, while in America breeding colonies exist
from Massachusetts and New York to the West Indies, Central America, and Vene-
zuela. In the case of a bird of cosmopolitan distribution it is difficult to ascertain

VOL. III. I

66 THE TERNS

the migration limits, but Saunders obtained specimens from Cape Colony, and in
S. America it has been obtained at Bahia in Brazil, [r. c. R. J.]

3. Migration. — A summer visitor which is said to arrive at the very end of
April and to leave as soon as the young can fly (cf. Saunders, III. Man. B. B., 2nd ed.,
1899, p. 646). But the relative scarcity of the species has made accurate migra-
tional study very difficult. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — In most cases the breeding colonies are found on bold
rocky islets, but in some cases the eggs are recorded as having been found among sand
and shingle. Most of those which I have personally examined were placed in recesses
or ledges of rocks, or in miniature caves, sometimes sheltered by the coarse vegetation
growing on the rocks. In only a few cases was any nest material used, the eggs
being laid on the bare rock or shingly ground. The full clutch consists of 2 eggs,
but in some cases only a single egg is laid. Quite exceptional cases of clutches of
3 have occasionally been recorded. Normally they are readily distinguishable from
those of the Arctic and common terns, though occasionally eggs of the latter species
are indistinguishable. The ground-colour varies but little, being almost always
light stone colour, occasionally suffused with brownish. The markings consist of
small spots and speckles of chocolate to sepia, with underlying blotches and spots of
ashy grey, and in some cases the dark markings form a very distinct zone round the
big end of the egg. Not a single egg out of a large number examined showed the
varied ground-colours prevalent in a colony of Arctic-terns. (PI. H.) They are
also large for the size of the bird, and elongated in shape : average size of 37 authentic
eggs, 1'74 x T16 in. [44*4 x 29*5 mm.]. Accurate observations on the length of the
incubation period and the share of the sexes in the work are still wanting, but
probably in these respects they differ little from their congeners. The breeding
season is rather late, and the eggs are not as a rule laid till June, generally about the
first week in that month. Only one brood is reared during the season. [F. c. B. J.]

5. Food. — Chiefly fish and floating marine organisms. Information is
scanty. [F. B. K.]

SANDWICH- TERN [Sterna sandvicensis Latham; Sterna cantiaca
Gmelin. Sparling, kek-swallow, skrike, pearl-gull (Devon), schreecher
(Kent). French, hirondette de mer caugek ; German, Brand-Seeschwalbe ;
Italian, beccapesci].

I. Description. — The sandwich-tern is readily distinguished by its stouter

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 67

build, black beak and legs, and the long pointed feathers of the nape, which form a
kind of crest. (See also p. 101.) The sexes are alike, and the only seasonal change
of plumage is confined to the black area of the head. (PL 102.) Length 16'5 in.
[4 19 '10 mm.]. In summer the forehead, crown, and nape are black, the nape
feathers being long and pointed, forming an incipient crest ; the rest of the upper
parts pearl-grey save the rump and tail, which are white. The under parts are
white, tinged with a delicate salmon-pink. The beak is black with a semitransparent
yellowish tip, and the legs and toes are black. After the autumn moult the fore-
part of the crown is white, and the nape is mottled with white. The juvenile
plumage of the crown is barred with black and white, and the rest of the upper
parts are variegated by submarginal dusky loops. A dusky band extends along the
wing formed by the marginal and minor coverts, and the tail feathers have a
subterminal bar of black. The under parts are white. The downy young are buff
coloured, irregularly mottled with grey and black, but around the eye are a number
of irregular loops of black, and there is a more or less distinct black line over the
scapular region, bounded on either side by a band of buffish white. (See also p. 105.)
[w. P. P.]

2. Distribution. — In the British Isles the colonies of this species are not
numerous. It no longer breeds regularly in the Scillies, Kent, or Norfolk, though
attempts have been made to do so of late years. At the Fames, however, as well as
at Ravenglass in Cumberland, there are large colonies, although Walney is now
deserted. In Scotland it has been known to nest in some numbers near the mouth
of the Findhorn, and was found breeding on N. Ronaldshay in the Orkneys in 1893,
while it formerly bred on Loch Lomond, and does so at the present time in Kircud-
bright. In Ireland there are now several thriving colonies in Co. Mayo (near
Ballina and on Lough Conn), one in Fermanagh (on Lough Erne), and two small
colonies on marine islands in Down. On the Continent there are large colonies in
Jylland, and in the Cattegat, Denmark, and in the N. Frisian Isles, as well as off the
W. German and Dutch coasts, and in the Channel Islands. A few breed in Spain,
as well as in the Canaries, and in the Mediterranean it nests commonly in Tunisia,
and is said to breed in Sardinia, Sicily, and on the coast of Italy, as well as in some
numbers in the Black and Caspian Seas. In America it is replaced by a closely
allied form, which breeds from the New England coast south to Honduras. The
winter range of this species in Africa extends south to Cape Colony and Natal :
in Asia it ranges to the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and the Sind coast, while the American
form has been recorded from Colombia. [F. c. E. J.j

68 THE TERNS

3. Migration. — A summer visitor. The earliest arrivals are seen on our
shores towards the end of March. The dates of first arrivals recorded by the
watcher at Ravenglass for 1907, 1908, 1909 were respectively 28th, 27th, and 29th
March. In Scotland the first records are generally for the beginning of May.
In Ireland a March arrival is rather the rule than the exception. For a long list of
records see Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 317. The dates of departure
are not well known. By the 23rd of July in 1909 the birds had all left Ravenglass
(cf. British Birds, iii. 170). On August 20 of the same year, a young bird of the
year ringed at Ravenglass in June was captured thirty to forty miles north of
that place, thus tending to show that the southward movement is not general in
August (op. cit., p. 181). On the Yorkshire coast birds are seen moving south in
August, but small parties remain till September and even October (Nelson, Birds
of Yorks., p. 652). They reach the Kent coast about the end of September,
and stay only a few days before going south (cf. Ticehurst, B. of Kent, p. 499).
[A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — This species breeds in colonies on sandy flats, often
with a scanty growth of plants, and in many cases the nests are mere hollows
scratched in the sand, though occasionally fairly substantial nests of bents and
dead vegetable matter cast up by the sea may be met with. Its nests may also
be found on shingle, on mudbanks, and in sea-campion (see p. 102). (PL xm.)
The eggs as a rule are 2 in number, and clutches of 3 are quite excep-
tional in most colonies, though occasionally a small group may contain two or
three such nests. On one occasion 4 eggs were found in a nest, but it is very
doubtful whether they were all laid by one bird. They are remarkably hand-
some and show considerable variation, the ground-colour ranging from greyish
or creamy white to warm stone colour, sometimes suffused with brown. The
markings consist of spits and blotches of dark sepia or rich red-brown exceptionally,
varying in size and sometimes forming a zone, while in some eggs they are almost
absent, or replaced by fine specks. The underlying markings are ashy bluish or pale
brownish, and in some eggs are very prominent, consisting of large blotches. (PL H.)
Average size of 100 eggs, 2-03xT42 in. [51-7x36-1 mm.]. Incubation begins as
soon as the first egg is laid, and, according to Mr. F. G. Paynter's observations, lasts
for 20 days (Naumann gives three weeks as the period). Both sexes share in the
work (see p. 103). Like the other terns, in fine weather they leave their eggs exposed
to the sun for long periods. The breeding season is decidedly earlier than that of
the other British species, and eggs may occasionally be found at the end of the first

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 69

week in May, while laying is general about the middle of the month. Where the
first clutches have been taken, fresh eggs may of course be obtained later, but only
a single brood is reared during the season, and by about the middle of July the
breeding-places are entirely deserted. [F. c. R. J.]

5. Food. — Chiefly small fish. Also " small shell-fish." The stomach of one
bird was found full of the " comminuted remains of a bivalve shell " (Macpherson,
Fauna of Lakeland, p. 411). The young are fed on small fish, young whiting being
quoted as the principal diet in one colony, Ravenglass (H. W. Robinson and
F. W. Smalley, British Birds, iii. 169). [F. B. K.]

LITTLE-TERN [Sterna minuta Linnaeus. Little-kip, skerrek. French,
petite hirondelle de mer ; German, Zwerg-Seeschwalbe ; Italian, fraticello].

1. Description. — Apart from its small size the lesser-tern can at once be
distinguished by the broad white forehead and broad black stripe from the beak to
the eye. The sexes are alike, and there is a slight seasonal change of plumage.
(PI. 98.) Length 9-5 in. [241-30 mm.]. There is a broad band of white on the
forehead, but the rest of the crown arid nape are black. The upper parts are of a
pearl-grey colour, save the rump and upper tail-coverts and tail feathers, which are
white, and the primary major coverts, which, like the first three primaries, are blackish
along the outer web and the inner side of the shaft ; the remainder of the primaries
are pearl-grey, with white margins to the innermost. The outer secondaries have
the outer webs dusky grey, the rest white ; the inner are pearl-grey, like the back.
The sides of the head and under parts are of a silky white. Beak gamboge-yellow,
tipped with black, legs and feet orange-yellow. After the autumn moult the white
on the forehead broadens somewhat, and the outer primaries are darker towards the
tip. In the juvenile plumage the feathers of the upper parts have dusky horse-shoe,
or arrow-headed, subterminal bars, and are tinged with sandy buff, but the rump,
tail-coverts, and tail feathers have a wash of pearl-grey. The wing-coverts are
variegated like the back, save the marginal coverts, which are dusky, forming a dark
band across the wing. The primaries are of a dark slate edged with white, and
conspicuously different from those of the adult. The forehead is of a dull white, and
the crown and nape dusky black. The young in down is of a light sandy buff or
sandy grey, the nape spotted with black, and with three fairly distinct longitudinal
stripes of black along the back. Under parts white, [w. p. P.]

2. Distribution. — Unlike the Arctic, roseate, and common terns, the little-

70 THE TERNS

tern nests only on sandy and shingly beaches, and not on rocky islands. Scattered
colonies may be found along our eastern and southern coasts from Teesmouth and
the Spurn southward, but it no longer breeds in Northumberland. On the west side
colonies exist in Cornwall, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Cumbrian coasts, but in
Scotland it is local, though known to breed in S.-W. Scotland, Tiree, and the Outer
Hebrides, as well as in the Orkneys, and on the east side reported as common and
increasing from Tay to Dee by Mr. Harvie-Brown. The Haddingtonshire colony,
however, is now deserted. In Ireland, though much less numerous than the common
and Arctic terns, there are many colonies on the coasts of Leinster, Ulster, and
Connaught. On the Continent it breeds in Denmark, in Sweden on the coasts of
Skane, Oland, and Gotland, in Russia only south of Esthonia and the Perm govern-
ment. South of these limits its range extends to the Mediterranean ; and it is known
to breed in the Canaries and Madeira, along the North African coast, in the Balearic
Isles, Sicily, Greece, Asia Minor, and Cyprus (occasionally) to the Black and Caspian
Seas. On the Syrian coast and Lower Egypt it is replaced by the black-shafted form,
but in Asia it occurs in the S. Tobolsk and Turgai governments and at Barnaul and
on the middle Irtysh, while it is also said to have bred in Northern India, but on
the Indian coast it is replaced by the black-shafted form. Other allied species
replace it in North and South America. On migration it is found in Asia as far as
Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and even in Java, while in Africa it certainly occurs in
Gambia, Nigeria, and the Gold Coast, and is said to have once been obtained in
Cape Colony. [F. c. B. J.]

3. Migration. — A summer visitor. In Kent a few birds have been seen as
early as April 9, and a fair number generally appear about the 20th, but the majority
of these pass on. The majority of the Kentish breeding birds arrive towards the
end of April and the beginning of May (cf. Ticehurst, B. of Kent, p. 504). In
1910, little-terns arrived at the Blakeney colony (Norfolk) on April 26 (cf. Q. E.
Gurney, Zoologist, 1911, p. 174). Their usual time for appearing at Spurn Point
is the end of April (cf. O. Grabham, British Birds, ii. 319), as also in N. Wales
(cf. Forrest, Fauna of N. Wales, p. 376) ; but in Ireland they are rather later
(Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 326). They frequently do not appear
on the Scottish coasts till the second week of May. The first arrivals have
appeared in recent years between the 5th and 20th May. Most of the birds
leave their breeding-grounds in August. The southward migration takes place
chiefly in September, there being few birds seen about our coasts after the end
of that month. [A. L. T.]

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 71

4. Nest and Eggs. — The breeding-place is generally only a hollow in the
sand or among the shingle on the beach. In the latter position the eggs are very
difficult to see, though easily found on sand. In many cases the hollow is lined
with fragments of cockle-shells or pebbles. (PL XLm.) The eggs are 2 or 3 in
number, much smaller than those of our other British breeding terns. The ground-
colour varies from light stone to ochreous, suffused with brown, blotched and
spotted with dark brown, which in some cases seems to have " run," and ashy
grey underlying blotches. (PI. H.) Average size of 123 eggs, 1*25 x -92 in.
[31-8x23-5 mm.]. According to Naumann both sexes incubate, but chiefly the
hen ; while in fine weather the eggs are left uncovered for long periods. He also
gives the incubation period as 14-15 days, but this is probably incorrect, as
Mr. T. Hepburn's and Mr. Oxley Grabham's observations tend to fix the period
at from 17-20 days (Zoologist, 1904, p. 173 ; British Birds, ii. 319), and Naumann's
estimates in the case of the other terns are also much under the mark. The
breeding season begins in England about the last week of May or early in June,
but occasionally eggs may be found as early as May 17, and only a single brood is
reared during the season. [F. c. B. j.]

5. Food. — Chiefly small fish and crustaceans. Dr. Patten states that he has
" seen little- terns, especially immature birds, foraging with turnstones under
rotting seaweed for sand-hoppers" (Aquatic Birds, p. 398). Aquatic insects and their
larvae (Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 124). The young are fed by both sexes
on small fish. At Spurn Point they were found to be fed " largely on very small
plaice about the size of a penny, sand-eels, sprats, etc." (0. Grabham, British
Birds, ii. 320). [F. B. K.]

The following species and subspecies are described in the supplementary chapter
on " Rare Birds " .- —

Whitewinged black-tern, Hydrochelidon leucoptera (Temminck).
Whiskered-tern, Hydrochelidon leucopareia (Temminck). {Hydrochelidon

hybrida (Pallas).]

Gullbilled-tern, Oelochelidon nilotica (Gmelin). [Sterna anglica Montagu.]
Caspian-tern, Sterna caspia Pallas.
Sooty-tern, Sterna fuliginosa Gmelin.
[Lesser sooty-tern, Sterna ancestheta Scopoli].
[Noddy, Anous stolidus (Linnaeus)].

72 THE TERNS

THE BLACK-TERN
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

If we set aside the noddy (Anous stolidw), which is of very doubt-
ful occurrence in the British Isles,1 and the rare gullbilled-tern
(Gelochelidon nilotica], our Terns fall into two groups, which may,
roughly speaking, be distinguished as the Marsh-Terns (Hydro-
chelidori) and the Sea-Terns (Sterna). The latter frequent chiefly
the sea and estuaries, and their principal food consists of fish ; the
former are birds of marsh and fen, and feed chiefly on aquatic insects.
The chief British representative of Hydrochelidon is the black-tern,
its congeners, the white-winged black-tern (H. leucoptera) and the
whiskered-tern (H. hybrida) being very rare exceptional visitors. The
black-tern is now also a comparatively rare visitor. At the beginning
of the last century it bred in hundreds in the Fens, the Norfolk
Broads, and possibly elsewhere, but it has been driven out of its
ancient haunts partly by cultivation and partly by persecution. It
visits them still in the spring on its way north to other breeding-
grounds in Denmark and the Baltic countries. In autumn, again, it
passes them with its young on its way to its African winter quarters.

For an account of its habits we have to depend chiefly on foreign
sources, and these are very scanty, the information being of the usual
type supplied in the standard works. Though rare with us, the
species is very numerous as a summer visitor in certain parts of Europe,
for instance in Hungary and Holland. It arrives at its breeding
quarters in May. When migrating to or from these it flies at a great
height, from which it descends from time to time when feeding
quarters present themselves. The migration appears to be performed
in a leisurely manner, and the birds may pause for some days at a spot
which provides abundance of nourishment. Thousands migrate along
the Danube, following each bend in the river, feeding on their way,

1 See R. J. Ussher, List of Birds, and T. A. Coward, Fauna of Cheshire, i. 93.

THE BLACK-TERN 73

and flying low, contrary to their usual custom when migrating over-
land or oversea.1

The species breeds in colonies, large or small. Solitary pairs are
very exceptional. The nests are built in marsh or fen-land, on the
ground, on floating masses of water-plants, sometimes on standing
bent and matted reeds, occasionally on water-lily leaves, when these
are close and strong enough to bear the nest and its occupants.
In Southern Spain Mr. W. Farren found the nests floating in the
water insecurely anchored by an occasional thin rush. The disturb-
ance of the water caused by his wading in made them bob up and
down; one, indeed, was shipwrecked. The material of which they
were constructed was scanty, and in the surface scum of the water
difficult to see. They were in groups of three or four, the groups
being usually a hundred yards or so apart.

Whether both sexes build is not recorded. The material used is
chiefly water-plants, and these are often picked from the surface of
the water when the bird is on the wing. The eggs are incubated,
according to Naumann, by both birds, and the two to three eggs are
hatched after about a fortnight, which is almost certainly an under-
estimate. According to the same authority the young remain in the
nest for two weeks, and are fed by the parents with insects. They
continue to be fed both on the ground and in the air for some time
after leaving the nest. The parents show great excitement when the
nesting-ground is approached. In Holland Mr. Jourdain saw one
strike a boy on the head and pursue him for quite a distance,
threatening to strike again, though at the time it had not even laid.
Old and young depart, for the most part, in August. Of their intimate
home-life nothing seems to be known beyond these few facts.

Those observers who have noted the bird's habits during its short
visits to us — most are content merely to record its occurrence at this
or that place — have provided a somewhat striking example of the
necessity for verifying statements made even by great naturalists.

1 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 108. 2 See " Classified Notes."

VOL. III. K

74 THE TERNS

Naumann asserts that the black-tern can catch no flying insects.1 It
has, however, been seen — recorded by at least five observers —
catching insects that were flying above the surface of the water, and
doing it with grace and ease.2 Mr. Jourdain, who has frequently
watched the bird on the Continent, tells me that " no one can watch a
flock darting through a big rise of Ephemerae without admitting that
they can and do take insects on the wing. I believe they take
dragon-flies in the same way, but in some districts, such as the
Danube delta, these insects are found in millions and their capture
is very easy ; consequently the birds would be more often seen
feeding upon them than in those parts of Germany where Naumann
lived." Another record of their skill in insect-catching is given by
Heuglin, quoted in Hennicke's revised edition of Naumann's work,
the one quoted throughout the present book.

Besides hawking for insects in the air, the bird picks these and
other food off the surface of the water when in flight, dipping its
beak only. It also alights for the same purpose on the water, and
has been once recorded as plunging in, like the Sea-Terns, with a
splash, completely submerging itself for an instant.3 It frequently,
when on the wing, picks insects from the water-plants, and has been
seen, like other sea-birds, following the plough for worms and grubs.4

Its usual call-note, which appears also to be an alarm-note, has
been syllabled by Naumann as kliiah (Anglicised kleebh}. He
credits it with two other notes, giek and kier, the latter not unlike the
ordinary note of the Arctic-tern.5 According to Professor Patten,
" the note, which is frequently uttered, is shrill and powerful for the
size of the bird. It sounds like creek-crick" 6 H. Saunders renders it
as a shrill crick, crick.7 Neither of these two authorities alludes to the
second or third note mentioned by Naumann.

1 Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. Ill : " Konnen kein fliegendes Insekt fangen."

1 T. A. Coward, Fauna of Cheshire, i. 419 ; Forrest, Fauna of N. Wales, p. 370; Stevenson,
Birds of Norfolk, iii. 315 ; Yarrell, History of Birds, iii. 520; F. C. R. Jourdain in litt.

3 A. W. Boyd quoted in Coward, Fauna of Cheshire, i. 419.

4 Dresser, Birds of Europe, vol. viii. * Vogel Mitteteuropas, xi. 110.

' Aquatic Birds, p. 374. 7 Manual of British Birds, 2nd edit., p. 634.

Plate 98

Upper: Black-tern in summer plumage

Lower: Little-tern, showing erect attitude
of the male when feeding the hen

By A. W. Seaby

COMMON AND ARCTIC-TERNS 75

The enemies of the species are those of the Terns in general. It
is attacked in the air by the faster Hawks, from which it seeks to
escape by flying to an immense height, or by rapid twists and turns, in
which its insect-catching renders it adept. Montagu, in his article on
the black-tern, relates how " in a very hard gale of wind many terns
were sporting over the water, when a peregrine-falcon passed like a
shot, singled out his bird, and presently coming up with the chase,
made a pounce, but the great dexterity of the tern avoided the deadly
stroke, and took a new direction. The falcon, by his superior velocity,
soon regained sufficient elevation to successively repeat his pounces,
but at last relinquished the pursuit."1

The eggs are sometimes plundered by the usual egg-robbers,
furred and feathered. Mr. Jourdain, again, tells me that the "Harriers,
especially the marsh-harrier, will rob outlying nests, or even a small
colony, but is at once mobbed by all the birds if it approaches a large
colony. ' Furred ' enemies must be very few : I fancy a dog would be
driven off in many cases ; only an otter would be dangerous, and that
only in the few cases when the nests are on deep water."

COMMON AND ARCTIC-TERNS
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

In order to bring out more clearly what differences there are
between the closely allied Arctic and common-terns, I propose to take
these two together, apart from their three British congeners. Too
little is known of the roseate-tern to give data for satisfactory com-
parison. Such information as we possess is summarised in a separate
section. This leaves the little and sandwich-terns. As there is
nothing much to be gained by emphasising the points of comparison
between them, they are treated separately, attention, however, being
drawn in each case to important particulars in which they differ from

1 Ornithological Dictionary.

76 THE TERNS

or resemble the Arctic and common. As the latter afford the standard
of comparison, they are taken out of their order and placed first.

Though easy to distinguish when in the hand, chiefly by means of
the marked difference in the breadth of the dark stripe on the inner
web of the long quills (see the figure on p. 61), the Arctic and
common-terns are so much alike in general appearance that they
are sometimes confused when seen free in their native haunts. As
incorrect identification has for result incorrect statements as to
geographical distribution, it is worth while to note briefly the char-
acters likely to aid the naturalist in distinguishing the species, when
he is unable to handle them. The most reliable is the coloration of
the bill. In the Arctic form this is blood-red, except for an occasional
small black line on the ridge of the upper mandible at its tip, which
may, for practical purposes, be ignored. The bill of the common-tern
is dusky coloured for about a third of its length from the tip, the basal
two-thirds being coral-red. The shorter tarsi of the Arctic constitute
another difference, but it is of little use unless both species are under
observation at the same time, except to those to whom they are
familiar. Differences in the shade of the beautiful silvery grey of the
plumage are of uncertain value for identification, because they vary
for the eye with each change of light. By some the relative length
of wing and tail is held to afford a reliable means of distinction.
This is based on the assumption that when the common-tern is
sitting or standing the tips of its wings reach either as far as, or
beyond, the extreme tips of the tail, whereas in the case of the
Arctic the wing-tips fall somewhat short of the tail-tips. There can
be no doubt that, on the average, the common has, for its size, longer
wings and shorter tail streamers, as the following figures show : —

1. (H. SAUNDERS l). 2. (NAUMANN *).

Common. Arctic. Common.* Arctic.

Length (full) . . 14-25 14'50 inches 30'6 to 35'30 34 to 39 c.m.

Tail .... 6-50 7'50 „ 147 „ 15'8 17 „ 19 „

Wing . . . 10-50 10-0 „ 26-50 „ 27-10 26 „ 27 „

1 Manual of British Birds, 2nd ed., pp. 648, 650. ' Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 128, 138.

Plate 99

Common-tern rising with fish

By A. W. Seaby

COMMON AND ARCTIC-TERNS 77

The variation shown by individual birds is, however, so great that this
means of identification can only be regarded as of secondary or
supplementary value. At the Fames, where both species can be seen
side by side, I have noted common-terns whose wing-tips fell distinctly
short of the tail, and also an individual of each species side by side
with the same relative length of wing and tail. The wing-tips of the
Arctic may project beyond the tail. In one case quoted they did so
by 1| inch (38 mm.).1 The extent of the variation in either species
is well illustrated by Naumann's figures. According to him it has a
sexual significance, the females having the shorter tails.

The common-tern's flight appears somewhat heavier than that of
the Arctic ; it seems almost as if, at each stroke, it were lifting
weights attached to the tips of its pinions. This is, of course, chiefly
noticeable when the bird is flying at a leisurely rate. It is noticeable
to a greater or less extent in the case of all its congeners except the
little-tern.

The species can further be distinguished by at least one marked
difference in the notes they utter. The ordinary note of the common-
tern is a long-drawn strongly dissyllabic keee-yerrrrr ; that of the Arctic
a shorter kerrr, occasionally kerr-err. Their remaining notes have yet
to be closely compared. According to my observation they are much
alike, but I have not heard the two species together, and base my
opinion only on the fact that I have used much the same syllabic
characters for their notes. From both I have heard a rapid ptip, ptip
ptip, ptip. . . . What is the precise significance either of it or the keee-
yerrr and kerr I am unable to say. They are possibly both used to
express different degrees of alarm. I have heard the kerr and ptip
uttered by Arctic-terns when taking their sudden periodic simultaneous
flights from the ground after a recent disturbance. I have reason to
think that the ptip is also a call-note, and may, in addition, have some
sexual significance. There can be no doubt as to the meaning of the
third note. This I find I have syllabled for the common-tern as

1 Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. p. 138. Or see Journal fur Omithologie, 1899, p. 384 (Schalow).

78 THE TERNS

kikikerr or kikiqwerr. The qwerrr (repeated) may be uttered alone, also
the kik, kik kik. . . . For the Arctic, also, kikikerr, or kerr, kerr,
kikikikikiki kerr, or titwerr, titiwer, titiwer. The variations were noted at
different times, and are probably to be accounted for by variation in
distance and direction. The birds used the note when fighting among
themselves, attacking other species or an intruder.

It is when we compare two closely allied yet well-defined species,
resembling each other so closely in external appearance and habit as
do these terns, or, to take another example, the chiff-chaff and
willow-wren, that the problem of the origin of specific variations
assumes its most puzzling form. Seeing that the chicks of both
Arctic and common-terns have black-tipped bills, one may assume
that it is the Arctic which has diverged most from the common
ancestor. If so, by what process or for what reason did the Arctic
lose, except as a mere survival, the black tip to its bill, and why has
it shorter legs and wings, and a narrower stripe on the primary
quills ? Why, on the other hand, has it become the larger species
and, for its size, developed a longer tail ?

The cause probably lies in the influence of differing environment,
but it would be difficult to trace it either in the present habitat or
present geographical distribution of the two species. The only
important difference in habitat is that the Arctic shows a decided
preference for salt as compared to fresh water, but it is only a prefer-
ence, for the species has been found breeding on inland lakes in
Ireland, Scandinavia, and Arctic America.1 The common-tern is
frequently found on fresh water even as far away from the sea as the
Swiss lakes, and one of its specific names, fluviatilis, points to its liking
for rivers. But that it shows a decided preference for fresh water is
not clearly demonstrated. Some of its largest colonies are found by
the sea, for instance at Bomney Marsh in Kent, by the tidal estuary
at Ravenglass, Cumberland, and at Muskeget Island off the New

1 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 323; H. Saunders, Manual of British Birds, 2nd
ed., p. 650; A. L. V. Man niche, Terrestrial Mammals and Birds of N.E. Greenland.

COMMON AND ARCTIC-TERNS 79

England coast.1 At the Fame Islands both species breed on the
same stretch of sand and gravel. They also breed together at Walney
Island in North Lancashire. The common-tern may once have been
a purely fresh-water species, and the Arctic purely maritime, but to
assume this does not help us to explain their divergent evolution.

When we turn to the difference in their geographical distribution
we come upon one of the most remarkable recent discoveries in this
branch of ornithology ; it is that the range (summer and winter) of the
Arctic-tern has a wider latitude than that of any other vertebrate
animal. It has been met with not only among the ice-blocks on the
road to the North Pole, at as high a latitude as 82°, but as near to
the South Pole as 74° 1' latitude, attracted there especially by the
surface-swimming crustaceans that abound in the Antarctic seas
during the southern summer.2 It has been found in every ocean.
Its range includes that of its congener, which lies well within the
temperate and tropical zones. But, again, the fact that the Arctic,
alone of the two species, ranges into the frigid zones, north and
south, leaves us still in the dark as to the cause of its specific
peculiarities. Yet unless the explanation is to be found in this fact,
the search elsewhere seems hopeless, for between the present habits
of the two species, to which we now turn, there is no difference that
can be called important.

The common-tern arrives earlier at its summer quarters, the time
varying with the season and the climate. It falls generally about
the end of April.3 The Arctic appears early in May. Both species
migrate usually in bands, and, like the black-tern, in a leisurely
manner, descending to fish in any promising water that presents
itself. They journey both by day and night, and at a great height.

1 Auk, xii. 33-48.

8 Ibis, 1907, p. 345 (W. E. Clarke on the " Results of the Scottish National Antarctic
Expedition"). The Antarctic birds may prove to be a local race or subspecies. See " Classified
Notes," p. 63, footnote.

8 For definite dates see the " Classified Notes." At Muskeget the earliest common-terns
arrived during the years 1892-95 as follows :— 1892, May 10 ; 1893, May 8 ; 1894, May 8 ; 1895, May 1
(Auk, xii. 33 ; xiii. 47). The late dates are due, no doubt, to the fact that the New England coast
has a colder climate than the British Isles, though situated in a more southerly latitude.

80 THE TERNS

On arriving at their breeding-grounds they drop, as it were, suddenly
into it from the sky.1

The common-tern has been seen arriving at its summer quarters
in pairs as well as flocks.2 In respect to the Arctic I can find no
definite information, but it is probable that both species, like many
other birds, pair for life. The fighting that takes place may partly,
if not wholly, be accounted for by the presence of males not previously
paired or that have lost their mates.

Not having seen either species immediately after its arrival, I
do not know whether there is a love-display different from that which
may be seen later when the birds have settled down. Probably there is
not, for generally birds display in the same way before and after the
actual winning of a mate, when such is necessary, which is not likely
to be frequently the case with species that pair for life. The displays
of the common and of the Arctic-tern, in the form that I have often
witnessed it, are without any noticeable differences. They are most
frequently associated with the feeding of the hen by the cock. The
former, even before she has finally chosen the exact position of her
nest, likes to stand near where it is to be and there await the return of
her mate, who is expected to spend a large part of his time in zealous
pursuit of dainties for the gratification of her palate. The presenta-
tion to her of the dainty, be it fish or crustacean, is accompanied by
a ritual which, as far as the male is concerned, varies little. He
alights, erects his tail stiffly, half spreads his wings so that they form
with his back a more or less continuous surface, something like the
top of a flat-iron, erects his neck just as stiffly as his tail, points his
beak heavenward, and, with the fish hanging therefrom, patters round
about his mate with precise little steps and a lofty air of doing some-
thing more than usually meritorious. The same attitude is assumed
by the sandwich and lesser-terns, and is shown on Plates 102, 98. The
behaviour of the hen varies according to her appetite. If she is in

1 Naumann, Vdgel Mitteleuropas, xi. 131, 141 ; Auk, xiii. 51 (G. H. Mackay).

2 Naumann, op. cit., p. 131 ; Bulletin of the Nuttal Ornithological Club, iv. 13 (W. Brewster).

COMMON AND ARCTIC-TERNS 81

no hurry she shows herself quite disposed to humour the cock's mood ;
she sidles up to him, her suppliant attitude in strong contrast to his,
her neck contracted, her whole body in a lower plane, her beak
turned up and sometimes opening and closing in anticipation. She
takes the fish only when it is given her, and behaves, in fact, with
marked decorum. If, on the other hand, she happens to be hungry,
she hardly awaits for her mate to alight before she snatches the fish
from his beak. This, however, in nowise prevents the cock, whatever
his feelings, from duly performing his part of the ceremony.

I have never seen the presentation take place elsewhere than on
the ground. Pairs may frequently be seen flying about in a wild
chase about the sky, one holding the fish, but they suddenly descend
to the ground for the actual presentation. At least such is my
experience. Mr. A. W. Seaby once noted it take place on the
water. The male hovered like a big silver butterfly over his mate, and
she received the fish with upturned open beak. A pretty scene,
except to the eyes of those for whom the part played in it by the fish
is a matter of moment.

The display above described may be seen when there is no food
brought. It is frequently seen when the pair is engaged in nest-
building, also on occasions quite disconnected with any function. I
have, for instance, seen two common-terns suddenly alight, both
strike the erect posture, head up, tail up, flat-iron back, and then
immediately fly off. Mr. Jourdain saw a pair of Arctic-terns display
in the same way in the water. As in the case of other species,
individuals may not infrequently be observed displaying when quite
alone. I have, among others, a note of an Arctic-tern pattering
about on a patch of sand by himself. Besides posturing in the usual
way, he nodded his head in a private and confidential manner, as if
engrossed by some matter of mighty import.1 The general effect was
marred by the extreme shortness of his little red legs. He had the

1 My note reads "beak gracefully erected and lowered." This was written at the Fames
two years ago, at the time of watching. It conveys to me at present not much meaning. I am
not, therefore, sure that " nod " is the right word to use.

VOL. III. L

82 THE TERNS

appearance of waddling, and did not, therefore, do justice to the
state of emotional exaltation in which he appeared to be.

On one occasion I saw two Arctic-terns facing each other, both in
the attitude described, except that one had his head lowered so that
the tip of the beak touched the ground. They seemed to be in an
aggressive mood, and may have both been males. On another
occasion two of the same species made an attack on each other.
They both had the heads inclined, and bowed or nodded. It may
be, therefore, that the display is used in a modified form as a sign
of pugnacity.

Both species lay their eggs on the ground ; the only exception to
this rule that has come to my notice being provided by the common-
terns that nest in the Danube delta1 and in Holland2 on floating
masses of water-plants, and in Hungary on logs floating in rivers.3
There is no satisfactory evidence to show that they differ in their choice
of site. Naumann, who was very familiar with both, and was, with
Nitzsch, the first to establish beyond doubt the specific distinction
between them, held the view that the common-tern preferred gravel
to sand, and avoided ground with any but the scantiest vegetation upon
it.3 This conclusion, based on his own repeated observations, made for
the most part at least in Germany, is not borne out by evidence now
available. It is possible that the species lays more often on gravel
than sand, and it undoubtedly lays on bare rock,4 but it certainly
does not seek to avoid vegetation. On the vast shingle stretches of
Dungeness, it is true, the number of nests on shingle greatly exceeds
those placed elsewhere. Out of fifteen nests I examined twelve
were on shingle, three on soil among herbage, one of the latter being
among white campion at the foot of a foxglove. Among the sand-
hills of Ravenglass, on the other hand, the great majority are placed

1 B. B. Lodge, Bird-hunting Through Wild Europe, p. 268.

3 Naumann, Vogel Metteleuropas, xi. 134, editorial quotation from Jourdain and LeverkUhn.
* LOG. cit.

4 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 320 ; J. Harvie-Brown and H. A. Macplierson, Fauna
of North- West Highlands, p. 312 ; Forrest, Fauna of North Wales, p. 373 ; C. J. King (Scillies), in
litt. I have found nests on the bare rock at the Fames.

COMMON AND ARCTIC-TERNS 83

season after season in the flats either on close-cropped turf or
among the rough vegetation growing in the sand, chiefly marram
grass. The minority are to be found on bare sand, and fewer still on
shingle or gravel. On islets off the coast of Wales Mr. Jourdain
found hundreds of nests among a luxuriant growth of sea-cabbage
over 18 inches high.1 Nests on close-cropped turf or among rough
grass are to be found in Holland, in Ireland,2 on Muskeget and
Pennikese Islands off the United States' eastern seaboard,3 in Meck-
lenburg,4 also on the island of Borkum off the mouth of the Ems,5
and, according to notes I made in 1905, on Walney Island in North
Lancashire. (See photo, PL XLIII.) No doubt other places could be
mentioned. On the Scillies the species often places its eggs in
masses of seaweed, not infrequently within the tide-washed area, thus
courting disaster.

The Arctic-tern, according to Naumann, prefers above all for its
nest-site flat low ground covered with turf or other vegetation.
This, he is careful to state, was the conclusion drawn only from his
personal observation. Subject to this qualification, he thus makes a
distinction between the nesting habits of the two species, for, as above
noted, he thought that the common-tern usually nested on bare ground.
This, we have seen, is hardly the case. Nor is it at all certain that
additional information will support his view as to what is the usual
nesting-ground of the Arctic. In Shetland its nests were often found
by Saxby on the grassy flats.6 In Jylland, Denmark, Mr. R. B. Lodge
and Mr. Jourdain saw it nesting in scratchings in bare sandbanks in
the fiords. At Walney Island, in 1905, of thirty nests examined I
found twenty on sand (see PL XLIII.) or shingle. Two or three of these
twenty were among the seaweed on the beach, and were washed
away by a high tide. Of the remaining ten, nine were on sand among

1 In litt. 2 TJssher and Warren, loc. cit. Of. British Birds, iii. 169, 201.

3 Auk, xiii. 51 ; ibid., xiv. 278.

4 Wustnei and Clodius, Vogel Mecklenburgs, quoted by the editors of Naumann, Vogel
Mitteleuropas, loc. cit.

6 In 1869. See Droste-Htilshoff, Vogelwelt der Nordseeinsel Borkum, p. 230.
« Saxby, Birds of Shetland, 1874, 326.

84 THE TERNS

thin newly sprouting marram grass, and one only among fairly thick
marram grass. Here it was the common-terns that nested on the
vegetation-covered patches. At the Fames, in 1909, the great
majority were nesting on the beach on sand or shingle, only a few
in the adjoining sea-campion. A few laid their eggs on the bare
rock. At Rhos Colyn, in Anglesea, a large colony nest on rocky
stacks,1 similarly in Shetland 2 and many localities on the west coast
of Scotland.3 Mr. H. C. Hart found nests in several places in the
Arctic regions on the bare shingle of the beach, and, in the same
region, they have been found in snow three inches deep.4

Enough has been said to show that much more evidence than we
have at present is required to establish beyond doubt that there is any
difference between the species in respect to the kind of nesting-site
each prefers. In the evidence, such as it is, and viewed as a whole,
no marked difference is apparent. It is worth adding that in estimat-
ing the value of evidence, it must be remembered that the ground
occupied by terns, in the latter part of the season especially, is not
necessarily that which they prefer, as persecution causes them to shift
their quarters. They may leave what, from their point of view, are
desirable quarters for less desirable.

According to Naumann the common-tern always, and the Arctic-
tern usually, leave their nests unlined.5 Howard Saunders reverses
the statement, and makes the common-tern occasionally add a few
cross bents.6 Both authorities hold the unlined nest to be the rule.
This is, however, doubtful. Unlined nests are no doubt frequently
found. But so are lined. Of about eighty nests of the common-tern
examined at the Fames, Walney, Ravenglass, and Dungeness, I found
only two unlined. An example of a well lined nest is given on
PI. XLIII. At the Wells colony in Norfolk, Mr. A. H. Patterson
found the nests lined " with few exceptions." 7 Again, at Colchester

1 Zoologist, 1905, 217 (Coward and Oldham).

1 Evans and Buckley, Fauna of Shetland, 1899. 3 F. C. R. Jourdain, in litt

4 Zoologist, 1880, 206 ; Ibis, 1877, 408. 6 Op. tit., xi. 134, 140.

• Manual of British Birds, 2nd ed., pp. 648, 650. T Zoologist, 1905, 260.

COMMON AND ARCTIC-TERNS 85

Harbour, Mr. A. Hepburn1 found few nests with no lining. Mr.
Jourdain found nests of the common-tern in Holland all lined. Mr.
Hepburn also made a discovery which probably explains much of the
contradictory evidence on this subject in respect to both species. It
was that the lining was accumulated gradually by the sitting bird.
In the majority of cases a " slight " lining was recorded on the first
finding of the nest, and a " thick lining " or a " big pad " on the visit a
week later. This was particularly the case after a wet week, when a
number of nests were made up with fresh material placed on top of
the old. I have noted the same in the case of the gannet, and it is
common, Mr. Farren tells me, to most or all the Waders, and no
doubt also to all species with similar nesting-habits. The fact
possibly explains why at the Fames on May 29, when the Arctic-
terns were just beginning to lay, I found very few lined nests among
the thirty or forty I examined, and these few contained only some
odd stalks that may not, indeed, have been put there by the birds,
whereas of thirty nests of the same species examined at Walney at the
end of June I found only two without lining. Some nests unquestion-
ably remain unlined. The one shown on PI. XLIII., from which young
were hatched, is an example. The average proportion of lined and
unlined has, however, yet to be established.

In the choice of material for the lining the species show no per-
ceptible difference. They take as a rule what is near at hand, but
why from the material available in one and the same colony certain
individuals choose say pebbles, and others bents, or why, again, some
dispense with a lining altogether, are questions that still beg a
satisfactory answer.2 Occasionally terns will neglect material near
the nesting-site for less accessible. On the rock stacks at Rhos Colyn,
Anglesea, where Arctic-terns breed, Messrs. Coward and Oldham
noted that the only vegetation was lichen. Several made their nests

1 Zoologist, 1910, 140.

1 For a discussion of them see British Birds, i. 373 (W. P. Pycraf t) ; ii. 78, 101 (F. B.
Kirkman).

86 THE TERNS

of this, but others used bents, and a few rabbit bones, both of which
they must have carried from the adjoining land.1 The most common
material used by both species are bents, stalks, and a variety of
vegetable matter, including occasionally twigs. Pebbles and shells
are also used, and at Walney I found some nests of Arctic-terns
made both of pebbles and bents, in one case there being a complete
outer circle of bents. In the colony of common-terns at Wells, of
which mention has been made, Mr. A. H. Patterson found nearly all
the nests lined with "sixpenny sized pieces of cockle and oyster-
shells." Rabbit bones appear to exercise an attraction on both
species,2 but they are only able to indulge the taste to a limited
extent, owing to the natural disinclination of the rabbits to supply
the material in large quantities.

On visiting a colony of Arctic or of common-terns, one does not,
as a rule, find them all nesting near together, unless, as at the
Fames, the space is confined. Where the breeding-ground is
extensive they may be found scattered in groups over a wide area,
isolated nests or smaller groups being often met with in between the
larger. At Walney or Ravenglass such groups breed in the flats
among the sandhills, the latter forming natural boundaries between
adjacent settlements. On the shingle stretches of Dungeness, where
there are no such boundaries, the common-terns are found dotted in
groups that may be a quarter of a mile apart or more. The two
species do not mix, and are not, as a rule, found at the same breeding-
place. A skerry has been known to be occupied by each species
separately in consecutive years.3 Among places where they can be
seen together are Walney Island and the Fames. At both the
common are in a minority, or were so in 1905 (Walney) and 1909
(Fames).

The building of the nest has two stages, preparing the saucer-

1 Zoologist, 1905, 217.

* H. A. Macpherson, Fauna of Lakeland, p. 414; Zoologist, 1905, 217 (Coward and Oldham).

3 P. C. R. Jourdain, in litt.

COMMON AND ARCTIC-TERNS 87

shaped hollow in the ground, and adding the lining. The latter,
as we have seen, may be omitted. In order to make the hollow,
the bird pushes its breast into the ground and turns slowly round,
using its legs at the same time to scrape out the sand, gravel,
or soil. I have often seen birds of both species engaged in this
work. They are easily recognised even at a distance by their elevated
white tails, which look as if they were planted in the ground. Four or
five or more scrapes are made before the final selection is made. In
the case of both species, again, the operation is often accompanied by
the posturing already described in connection with the feeding of the
hen by the cock. While one bird is turning round and round, the
other may be seen standing head up, tail up, wings part spread, in an
attitude of condescending attention. When the first bird steps out of
the scrape, the other patters up to it, eyes it a second, and steps in
and proceeds to rotate. The posture is assumed by both sexes, when,
that is, they are interested. One will occasionally stand idly by while
the other is busy. The working bird not infrequently pecks in a
somewhat spasmodic fashion at bits of sand or other objects within
reach, as it rotates, and throws them down by its flanks. On one
occasion I saw a common-tern, presumably the male, descend with a
fish, strike the usual attitude, then almost immediately step into
a scrape and start rotating, the fish being still in his beak. His
mate stood by posturing. After a repetition of the performance,
both took flight.

The operation of lining the nest I have not seen, but judging from
the usually careless appearance of the finished work, the material is
simply brought in the beak and dropped into place, also sometimes
out of place. It is no doubt subjected to the process of rotation above
described.

The common-tern starts laying a little earlier than the Arctic,
the exact date depending upon latitude and season. It generally falls
towards the beginning of June, and in Scotland later. The former
usually lays three, and the latter two eggs. In the case of both

88 THE TERNS

species, the sexes share the work of incubation according to
Naumann. The down-clad chicks are hatched at the end of three
weeks. They are dimorphic (see " Classified Notes "), the difference,
in the case of the Arctic-tern, extending to the coloration of the
upper parts and legs, and in the case of the common-tern to beak
also. The difference between the two types of chicks of the latter
species is said to extend even to their disposition, that with flesh-
coloured legs being more lethargic than the one with red legs.1 A
curious fact, which I noted some years ago, is that the chicks of
both these species, as well as those of the sandwich-tern and black-
headed-gull, have a vestigial claw on the bastard wing. This will
probably prove to be the case with all the Laridce, if not the Limicolce
as well. Why it should have survived in the case of ground-nesting
birds is difficult to explain. The only species in which wing-claws
are habitually functional is the hoatzin of S. America, a tree-nesting
bird, whose chick uses its claws, when alarmed, to clamber out of
its nest away into the adjoining foliage. It loses the claws when
fully fledged.

The coloration of the chicks, when they are on rough stony
ground or shingle, is highly protective. The markings on the back
and flanks still further aid concealment by serving to break up the
outline of the body, so that it does not stand out against its back-
ground. The chicks of both species quit the nest almost as soon as
they can run. Whether they ever subsequently return to it I am not
certain, but think not. They leave it either to meet the parent
coming with food or else to seek shelter from the sun, not from fear
of human beings. During the first few days, indeed, the tern chick
has not learnt fear, as the following incident, among many, will show.

1 Common-tern : Auk, xiii., 1896, p. 51 (G. H. Mackay, whose observations were verified by
R. Ridgway and W. Brewster). See also British Birds, Hi. 169, Oct. 1909 (H. W. Robinson), for
the same observations made independently. At Dungeness, in 1908, 1 noted that some chicks
were a much darker buff than others. Arctic tern : British Birds, in., 1909, 200 (N. F. Ticehurst).
In July 1905 I photographed at Walney, in an Arctic-tern colony, two chicks, one grey in ground-
colour, the other buff. All the adult terns I saw in the part of the colony in which these chicks
were belonged to the Arctic form.

COMMON AND AKCTIC-TERNS 89

I found an Arctic chick one hot day lying on the sand some distance
from its nest, and knelt down to take its photograph. No sooner did
it see the shadow cast upon the ground by my body than it rose, and
ran to nestle in the most confiding manner against the side of my leg.
That the chick will readily quit the nest to find shelter is evident from
an account sent me by Mr. C. J. King, who, as he lay hidden, saw a
chick of the common species leave the nest for a shady spot. This it
did time after time when put back. The peregrinations of the chick
are sometimes determined by its parents. On one occasion I saw an
Arctic-tern coax its chick to follow it by walking a little way from it,
then back, then on. When it had thus led it near to the desired spot,
it lay down, clucked much like a hen, and made with its body the
snuggling movements of a bird settling down to brood. The chick ran
quickly to it, and was soon under shelter. This occurred some
distance from the nest.

On which day of its life the chick develops the instinct of fear I
am uncertain, probably after three or four days. The change in its
behaviour, when approached, is striking. It crouches until aware
that it is detected, then runs away, using its short wings to help it
over the inequalities of the ground. One young Arctic chick I
cornered showed fight, uttering a little harsh note of anger, and peck-
ing vigorously. The behaviour of individual chicks of course varies,
some being more apathetic than others. The young of a common-
tern, that might have been nearly two weeks old, allowed me to touch
it before it got up and ran away over the shingle.

The young are fed chiefly on small fish by both parents. Accord-
ing to Wilson, quoted by Dresser and Sharpe, the parent common-
terns "alight with the fish they have brought, and, tearing it in
pieces, distribute it in such portions as their young are able to
swallow."1 It is more than doubtful that Wilson ever saw this take
place, for not only is the beak of the tern ill-adapted for tearing flesh,
but the chicks both of the Arctic and common species have no difficulty

1 Birds of N. America, quoted in Birds of Europe, viii.
VOL. III. M

90 THE TERNS

in digesting their fish whole. A chick may not infrequently be found
with the tail of a fish longer than itself projecting from the end of
its beak. The tail gradually disappears inside as the head portion
becomes assimilated. The fish is either given directly to the young,
or is dropped in front of it, sometimes from the air. Insects and worms
are also brought, especially when stormy weather makes fishing diffi-
cult. On a wet evening, at Sule Skerry, Orkney, Arctic-terns have
been seen in hundreds all over the island, hovering about six feet
above the ground, every now and again darting down to the ground,
seizing a worm, carrying it off to the chicks, scarcely alighting to put
it into the wide-open bills, and then flying off for more.1 When the
young are on the wing, they still continue to be fed, receiving the food
in the air, or else waiting for it on the shore.

The Tern's method of fishing is to hover, with rapidly vibrating
wings and with beak usually down bent, some twenty feet over the
surface of the water, where it looks much like a large white butterfly
suspended on the end of invisible string ; thence, when it has located
its prey, it drops head-first, its wings half closed, and enters the water
with a splash, emerging almost immediately with or without its fish.
The extent to which the common and Arctic-terns submerge them-
selves depends no doubt upon the height from which they descend.
Personally I have never seen either species disappear completely.
But that the Arctic-terns do so occasionally was the opinion of Saxby,
who wrote that in deep water "they would bury themselves com-
pletely out of sight."2 Both species also take food off the surface
after the manner of Gulls, that is, without alighting or wetting their
plumage ; they pause just above the water, pick up the object with
the tip of the bill, and are off again at once.

Their usual method of picking worms and insects from the
ground appears to be simply a modification of that adopted in fishing.
They hover, alight for an instant, and are up again. They have been

» Annals of Scottish Natural History, 1904, 23 (J. Tomison).
2 Birds of Shetland, p. 326.

COMMON AND ARCTIC-TERNS 91

seen following the plough.1 They seem occasionally to hawk for
insects in the air, like the black-tern. Saxby writes of Arctic-terns
" skimming over the pastures on fine summer evenings " in pursuit of
moths, and, strange to relate, common-terns are reported to have been
seen hawking for flies with the swifts over Exeter Cathedral ! 2

When their breeding-grounds are trespassed upon, Arctic and
common-terns, like Gulls, swoop down upon the offender, utter a
harsh scream, then rise to swoop again. Of the two species the
Arctic-tern appears to be the more daring, at least where human
beings are concerned ; individual birds will occasionally, indeed, carry
their resentment beyond mere protest. I have been violently struck
on the head by one when handling its eggs. Another was seen by
Mr. H. H. Slater to descend with such force as to break several of
the eggs that a girl was carrying on her head in a basket. His
companion, who was carrying eggs in his cap, was struck more than
once on the bare head, blood being drawn.3 I have never been
attacked by common-terns when they had eggs, and, though often
attacked — swooped upon, that is — have never been struck by them
when with young.

The Tern's method of striking is, as far as I know, peculiar. It
delivers its blow, not like most birds with the wings, or like the
Skuas, for instance, with the feet, but with the point of the bill. I
was made acutely aware of this fact when attacked by the Arctic-
tern referred to above. Later I was able to verify the observation by
examining young blackheaded-gulls that had been killed by both
common and Arctic. I found, on removing the skin, that their
skulls were perforated in different places as if a tin-tack had been
hammered into them and then withdrawn. The extraordinary
accuracy of the Tern's aim is not to be wondered at, seeing that their
form of attack is, again, but a modification of their method of

1 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 133, 144.

* Field, 1906 (July-Dec.), 250.

3 H. H. Slater, Birds of Iceland, p. 110.

92 THE TERNS

catching fish — the only difference being that the bill in the latter case
serves to grasp instead of to pierce.

They attack all animals trespassing on their nesting-grounds.
They will drive off dogs, horses, and cattle, also sheep, and I have
seen them pursuing a hare over the shingle stretches of Dunge-
ness. The large Gulls and the Crows they follow and harry
mercilessly. According to Howard Saunders, a flock of Arctic-terns
has been seen to mob and drown a hooded-crow. Their attitude
towards the blackheaded-gull, their frequent neighbour, is one of
watchful and suspicious toleration. The young of the same species
they attack and kill in the way above described. This may be
explained by the fact that the young gulls are markedly unlike their
parents in coloration, the result being that their identity is mistaken.
Moreover, the sudden emergence of a number of strange birds, to all
appearance from the ground, in the middle of the breeding season is in
itself enough to excite suspicion in the breast of any tern with a proper
sense of responsibility. The Waders, such as the oystercatcher and
the ringed-plover, which nest among the Terns, are left in peace. So
also are their young, probably because they are born within the
colony instead of invading it, like the young gulls, from outside as
fledglings, and perhaps also because their plumage is not con-
spicuously unlike that of their parents.

The worst enemies that the Terns have are undoubtedly human
beings, in particular those women misguided enough to imagine that
their charms can be enhanced by wearing on their hats the faded and
dismal remains of these birds, beautiful only when alive and free. For
millinery purposes Terns are butchered each autumn by hundreds,
as soon as they cease to be effectively protected. They are all the
more easy to shoot because the flock, either moved by sympathy
or curiosity, has a habit of hovering over its dead and wounded.

An enemy less to be feared is the Hawk tribe, from which the
tern singled out for pursuit seeks to escape by rising to an immense
height. The adult birds appear often to escape, the chief victims

Plate 10O

Arctic-tern chased by Arctic-skua

By G. B. Lodge

i

COMMON AND ARCTIC-TERNS 93

being the young of the year.1 Both species are harried by Skuas,
which pursue them and compel them to drop the fish they are
carrying. (PL 100.)

Their eggs, in spite of their vigilance, are occasionally robbed by
Crows and Gulls, also by rats. In 1905, at Walney, hardly an egg of
the Arctic-tern escaped the last-mentioned marauders, traces of
whose feet and tails were to be seen leading from almost every nest to
the nearest tuft of bent, where the broken shell told the story of the
theft. The deep narrow furrow made in each case by the tail in the
sand seemed to show that the rat had used this appendage as a
support while it hopped away on its hind-legs, clasping the egg to its
breast. That it escaped being murdered by the terns is remarkable.
Where sheep and cattle have access to the breeding-ground, some
eggs are, of course, trodden upon. Some again, as previously noted,
are washed away by the tides from nests laid on or below high-water
mark.

The unfledged young suffer, no doubt, chiefly from rain and
cold. Those of the common-tern, born on river banks, are also liable
to be drowned by floods.2 From birds of prey they appear to be well
protected by their protective coloration, when this assimilates with
their nesting-ground, and by the watchfulness of the parent birds,
which also, no doubt, serves to guard them from creatures that hunt
by scent. But with regard to this information is lacking.

The Arctic and common-terns both begin to leave their breeding-
places in August. Of the manner of their departure little is recorded
by British observers, but Mr. G. H. Mackay has given some interesting
details of the proceedings of the common-terns in 1895, before they
left Muskeget Island, off the New England coast. From September
1st to 7th they appeared to leave the middle of the Island, and
roosted on the outside beaches on the west and south. From the 15th
to the 22nd they were seen collecting in large flocks, mounting
upwards in a spiral course, then descending again. On the 26th and

1 Cf. Nauraann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 135, 146. 2 Naumann, op. tit., p. 146.

94 THE TERNS

27th several very large flocks rose up in the air, until lost to sight.
They were going in a south-west direction when last seen.1

From August to October those Terns which have left their
breeding-places may be seen on many parts of our coast, and on
migration inland. They quit us gradually for their southern winter
quarters, some staying later than others, the former, presumably, being
those that are migrating from the more northerly breeding-stations,
British or other. Records are given in the " Classified Notes " of the
arrival of some of our common-terns off the coasts of Spain in
September. But many more such records are required in order to
render possible a comparative study of the emigration and winter
movements of those individuals of the two species that summer in the
British Isles.

ROSEATE-TERN
[F. C. R. JOURDAIN]

Numerically this species is much the rarest of our British breed-
ing Terns, and it is also far the most local. At the present time any
systematic study of its habits is attended with the greatest possible
difficulty, for it is only known to breed regularly at two localities in
our islands. One of these is by no means easy of access, and probably
contains not more than fifteen or twenty pairs, while the other and
much larger colony is carefully protected. Moreover, as will be seen
later, any attempt to watch this colony for any length of time would
probably result in serious injury to the breeding prospects.

There are, however, various points around the coast where a few
pairs occasionally breed. Till recently a few pairs almost always
nested on the Fames, but they were never common there, and have
failed to hold their ground in spite of protection. What the exact
cause of their disappearance is it is at present impossible to say.

1 Auk, 1896, xiii. 51.

ROSEATE-TERN 95

Apparently they are crowded out by their neighbours, the common-
terns, but why they should not be able to hold their ground is not
clear. Possibly the protection now extended to the Terns may be the
indirect cause ; for the common-tern is an earlier nester than the
roseate, and on the rocky islets, where both species breed, the space
available for nesting-sites is limited. As the colonies of common-
terns respond readily to protection and tend to increase rapidly in
numbers, it may be that the roseate-terns are gradually driven away
by finding their breeding-sites occupied already. Against their
natural enemies the habit of breeding in large colonies is a great
protection. Even the larger gulls, bold robbers though they are,
would hesitate to provoke the attacks of some hundreds of terns,
intent on delivering their needle-like thrust with the closed bill from
above. But the unfortunate wanderers, thus driven out, and pre-
vented from nesting under the protection of their neighbours, if they
breed at all, must found new colonies, where they are at the mercy of
the first prowling gull which passes by.

The fecundity of this species is also less than that of its congeners.
The normal clutch of the common-tern is three eggs, while two are
much less usual. Among the Arctic-terns, it is true, clutches of
two are more general and three are less usual, but with the roseate-
tern the clutch ranges from one to two, while out of a large number
of nests examined in situ by the writer, not a single one contained
three eggs. It is of course quite possible that clutches of three occur
occasionally : some instances have been recorded, but they must be
regarded as quite exceptional. Mr. H. Noble, who has had consider-
able experience of this species, is inclined to consider one as
being the normal clutch, sometimes two, and he also has never seen
three (British Birds, iii. p. 90). My own experience leads me to regard
two as the normal clutch in an ordinary season in the British Isles.
In the colony of roseate-terns discovered by M. Blanc in Tunisia, the
clutch consisted invariably of a single egg.

Another point which may possibly have some bearing on the

96 THE TERNS

question is the preference shown by this species for recesses in the
rocks as breeding-places. Heavy thunder showers will fill these
hollows with water, and I have not the slightest doubt that many eggs
are chilled and rendered infertile by this means. In this case the
skin and egg collectors cannot justly be held responsible for the
diminution of the species : a few have no doubt been shot from
various colonies, but the thorough identification of eggs in a crowded
colony is a work of time and patience, and the number of authentic
eggs in collections from the British Isles is very small.

The roseate-tern arrives at its breeding-grounds after the common
and Arctic-terns, and does not appear till the very end of April.
Although nests may be found within a foot of those of one of the other
species, the roseate-terns tend to breed apart from their neighbours
and close to one another. In a colony where all three species were
nesting, Mr. W. Bickerton noticed a preference for association with
the common rather than the Arctic-terns, while in the main colony the
island is divided between common and roseate-terns, and only a few
Arctic-terns breed on outlying rocks. On the Fames, however, Mr.
Kirkman noticed a pair in 1909 standing on the ground among the
Arctic-terns, and this was also the experience of Messrs. Cummings
and Oldham on the Skerries. A very different state of things is
apparent, however, on visiting the great stronghold of this species in
the British Isles. From afar off the bold rocky island stands out
black from the sea, but its top is white with a snowy cloud of terns,
and even half a mile off the din of their creaking notes comes to us
across the waters. As the boat is steadily rowed towards the island,
the terns rise in hundreds and fill the air above us, until the rock is
deserted and every one of its tenants is on the wing. It is by no
means easy to estimate their numbers under these circumstances, but
probably from three to four hundred birds at least are flying over-
head, uttering an incessant chorus of creaking notes. There is not
the least difficulty in distinguishing the roseate from the common as
they fly overhead. The former is really a smaller bird, but, on the

Plate 1O1

Roseate-tern bringing a fish to its young

By A. W. Seaby

ROSEATE-TERN 97

other hand, its two streamers or outer tail feathers are longer and form
an excellent distinguishing character. The flight of the two species
is different, the wings of the roseate-tern being less elevated and
depressed, and the flight in consequence appearing less laboured and
more buoyant, while its wing-beats are slightly quicker. From time
to time, as a bird passes within a few yards, the lovely rosy flush on the
breast from which it derives its name is clearly perceptible, while the
black bill (instead of red, as in the common-tern) gives an unfailing test
when the bird is settled in front of one. The last is of course the best
character when watching a bird on the nest, as sometimes the long
tail feathers are hidden, but on the wing overhead the " streamers "
and the characteristic notes at once attract attention. The notes are
rather difficult to express on paper. Oswin Lee says that the call-
note is a long-drawn " krr-eee" rather like that of the common and
Arctic-terns, but much more shrill and prolonged, while, when dis-
turbed at its breeding-haunts, besides the usual " kik-kik-ktk " common
to all the Terns, it has a long piping note, " kee-ee-ee" almost like a
whistle, readily distinguishable among the babel of cries raised by the
accompanying throng of common and Arctic-terns. Messrs. Cuminings
and Oldham speak of the harsh "craak" of alarm and the call-note
" che-wick. Mr. Bickerton describes the alarm-note as a harsh " crrark-
crrark," while in my own notes it is described as harsher than that of
the common-tern, and not dissyllabic with the fall on the second
syllable, as in the well-known " kree-aa " of the common-tern, but
prolonged on the same note. On landing we find that the apparently
barren rock is covered on the top with a luxuriant growth of sea-
cabbage and other plants, whose growth is no doubt stimulated by the
droppings of the birds, which whiten the ground in all directions. The
sides are, however, boldly scarped and worked into innumerable rocky
hollows. Eggs of both species are lying about in scores : one must
walk warily so as not to trample upon them, and even at the first
hasty glance it is easy to see that there are two very different types
among them. The first thing to be done, after a hasty walk round, is

VOL. III. N

98 THE TERNS

to conceal ourselves as far as possible in order that confidence may
be restored and the birds return to their nests. As far as we can tell,
the roseate-terns are chiefly confined to a part of the island where the
rock is much broken up, and on the steep sides are many nests which
appear to belong to this species. Not long after we have retreated to
our hiding-place we can see the Terns beginning to settle on the far
side of the island, but the clamour overhead goes on undiminished.
As soon as one is on its eggs, its neighbours rapidly follow suit, and
presently twenty or thirty birds are sitting in front of us. But without
any warning the babel ceases, and in perfect silence the whole body
rises in alarm ; presently the cries break out again, and gradually
confidence is restored. This is a curious characteristic of all three
species, which behave in exactly the same way : all rising with a
simultaneous rush of wings in silence, and often apparently for no
cause except sheer nervousness. At other times the cry of an
oystercatcher will put every bird on the wing.

But now they are settling down again, and we can distinctly see
the long streamers of a bird whose head is hidden in a tiny cave on
the steep side of the rock. We mark the spot and turn our glasses to
the next bird, and can clearly distinguish her black bill. A long and
careful watch convinces us that no common-terns intrude in the
territory of the roseates, but, on the other hand, there is no neutral
ground between the two species. Within a foot or so of a sitting
roseate in a cleft of rock sit two common-terns on the sandy top, so
that practically one has to map out the limits of the two species.
Curiously enough, on the Skerries this is not the case, and nests of the
roseate are scattered about among those of the Arctic-terns, but the
breeding habits of these two species differ less than those of the
roseate and common-tern. After half an hour's work of this kind
we can rise from our cramped position, of course disturbing every
bird at once, and proceed to the ground we have been studying from
a distance. One by one the marked nests are identified, and now we
see that all those on which we have seen roseates sitting contain

ROSEATE-TERN 99

eggs of practically the same type. Curiously enough, although a
smaller bird than the common-tern, the roseate lays a slightly larger
and decidedly longer egg. The characters of the two have already
been described in the "Classified Notes'' and need not be repeated here,
while the nesting-sites are usually very different, the common-terns
frequently breeding in scratchings on the comparatively flat top of
the island and among the luxuriant vegetation, while almost every
roseate's egg is in some kind of crevice or recess or little cave on the
steeper rock face. Most of the eggs are laid on the shingly floor of
the recesses : here and there a few bits of dry and dead vegetable
matter may be found casually arranged, but practically no nest is
made. There are, of course, exceptions to these rules : thus Mr. Oswin
Lee found a nest with the unusual number of three eggs on the Culbin
Sands on May 20, 1887, which he ascribed to this species. The date is
exceptionally early, and the number of eggs suggests a possible con-
fusion with a common-tern's nest, especially as the latter were
breeding there, and the eggs were laid in a depression in the sand.1
Many of the large colonies of this species in other countries also are
known to breed on sandy flats,2 but here we are chiefly concerned with
the habits of the birds in our own islands. Mr. Oswin Lee gives some
interesting notes on the breeding-habits of these birds. He says that
the male is very attentive to the hen while she is sitting, and often
hovers in the air over her calling to her. He feeds her on the nest with
small fish, and twice saw one carry a large sand-eel to the sitting bird,
when they both devoured it, tearing it up and eating it in little
pieces.3 There seems to be no record of the male taking part in
incubation, but naturally observations on this point are very scanty.
Roughly we may estimate the incubation period at about twenty days,
on the analogy of the two allied British species, but here, again,
accurate information is lacking.

1 Cf. also Ootheca Wolleyana, ii. p. 301.

2 Cf. The Auk, xii. p. 32 ; Whitaker, Birds of Tunisia, ii. pp. 346-7.

3 O. A. J. Lee, Among British Birds in their Nesting-haunts, i. p. 38.

100 THE TERNS

A full and careful study of the plumage of the young from the down
stage onward is given by Dr. L. Bureau in his " Monographie de la
Sterne de Dougall," published in the Proceedings of the Fourth International
Ornithological Congress (1905). The same writer also gives his observa-
tions on the breeding season and time of departure as observed by him
off the coast of Brittany. Here the birds breed earlier than in Great
Britain, and probably arrive earlier. The first eggs are to be found
from about May 16th to 20th, whereas in Great Britain the more usual
time for full clutches is from the first week in June onward, and many
fresh eggs may be found, when the birds have not been disturbed, even
in the second week of June. The first eggs were hatched in Brittany
about the end of the first week in June, while both old and young, in
cases where the colony has not been disturbed, leave the islands about
July 15th. In cases where the first eggs have come to an untimely
end, the stay may be prolonged even to the end of August, but by the
first days of September all have disappeared. In one colony observed
by M. Levesque they departed between July 25th and 28th.

After the breeding colonies have been abandoned, Dr. Bureau
states that the birds do not forsake the neighbourhood altogether, but
reassemble in large flocks, composed of old and young birds, on the
outlying islets, and have been observed from the beginning of August
up to the end of October. The latest date of which he has any record
is that of two young birds obtained on October 22, 1896.

One last word on the habits of this bird. Mr. E. G. Potter
(Zoologist, 1899, p. 83) suggests that the roseate-tern is accustomed
to rob the other terns with which it breeds, when it is feeding young.
The evidence quoted is chiefly second-hand, and in some cases
suggests a confusion of species, but, if correct, gives a possible clue to
the disappearance of small bodies of roseate-terns from large colonies
of other species.

SANDWICH-TERN 101

SAND WICH-TERN
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

The Sandwich-tern1 is of stouter build, has a relatively longer
bill and a shorter tail than any of the preceding species.2 These three
features, taken together, make it easy at once to recognise the bird
in flight, even when seen at a distance. At close quarters, or seen
through binoculars, it is, of course, identified by its black beak with
yellow tip, and the striking velvety black mane-shaped crest, which
gives it almost a martial appearance.

Its usual note, again, is distinctive — a sharp " kirr-whit" not to be
mistaken when once heard. The alarm-note, uttered chiefly when
intruders are near the nests, is not unlike that of the Arctic and
common species. If heard at a distance it sounds to me like a some-
what disgruntled "quk," and, near to, like "keek," or "kweek" or
" qrreek" It varies in pitch with the intensity of the bird's feelings.
The species also utters the " qwerr " or " qwarr " noted in the case of
the other species, but not, as far as my observation extends, in con-
junction with the "kweek.'"

In some of its habits the Sandwich-tern differs markedly from its
British congeners, the common, roseate, Arctic, and lesser. Jffc'an ives
at its British breeding-haunts at the end of March or early in Aptr&,

1 Named after Sandwich in Kent, where, in 1784, it was first observed.

J The relative length of the beak and body, as given by H. Saunders in his Manual of
British Birds, 2nd ed. , are —

Body (with tail). Beak.

Common-tern . . 14'25 inches . . . 1 '70 inches

Arctic „ . . 14-50 ... 1-60 „

Roseate „ . . 15'50 „ . . . 1'90 „

Sandwich „ . . 16 „ 2'50 „

The relative length of body and tail are given by Naumann in vol. xi. pp. 129, 138, 154, 164,
of the Vogel Mitteleuropas as follows :—

Body (with tail to extreme tips). Tail to extreme tips.

Common-tern . . 30'6 to 35'3 cm. . . 14'7 to 15'8 cm.

Arctic „ . . 34 to 39 cm. . . . 17 to 19 cm.

Roseate „ . . 35'50 cm. . . . 18'5 cm.

Sandwich ,, . . 36 to 37 '50 cm. . . 15'30 cm.

102

THE TERNS

thus from three weeks to a month earlier than they. It is sitting on
its eggs when they are still choosing sites for their nests. Like them
it arrives in flocks, which are said to be preceded by small advance
parties, or even by single pairs.1 Unlike them, it nests in "packs,"
the nests being often not more than a foot apart. The packs may
vary in size from a few pairs to many thousands.2 The largest in the
British Isles are to be found on the Fames, which is composed,
however, of not more than a few hundred pairs. On the same
breeding-ground more than one pack may be found. At the Fames
in 1909 there was one on the Inner Wideopens and two on the
Knoxes. There are usually about half a dozen at Ravenglass, often
some hundreds of yards apart. There is reason to believe that
these packs or sub-colonies arrive independently of each other and at
different dates, for at Ravenglass it was noted by Mr. W. Bickerton
that the young in some were hatched out earlier than in others.
The following are his records for four groups in 1906. 3

Group.

Date.

No. of Nests.

Eggs.

Young.

I

June 1

11

14

II

,, 1

62

60

36

ill

« • •**•,-

„ 4

14

22

-rtVi.V. !"•
* •»• * • *••-(.*,•

,, 4

17

14

16

At Ravenglass the species makes its nest in the marram grass
on the sunny slopes of the sandhills, among the blackheaded-gulls,
some of the latter actually nesting within the packs. Below, scattered
over the flats between the sandhills, are the common-terns. On the
Fames the nests were in 1909 on ridges of sand, shingle, and sea-
weed (Knoxes), and in the sea-campion well above the beach (Inner

1 Naumann, Vogel Afitteleuropas, xi. 157. * Ibid., p. 160.

1 Country Life, Oct. 3, 1908, p. 445.

SANDWICH-TERN 103

Wideopens). At both places the Sandwich nested at a higher level
than their congeners. Near Ballina, in Ireland, a colony nested " on
a low, flat mudbank scarcely above the level of the water." : They also
lay on sandbanks and rocks.2 In the nature of their nesting-sites
they differ, therefore, little from others of their genus, except that,
like the little-tern, they have not been found nesting on bare skerries.
As far as is known they never breed inland.

It would be difficult to say whether their nests are more often
lined or unlined. On May 19 to 24, 1909, I examined over a hundred
at Ravenglass, and found them mostly more or less lined with marram
grass. On the 30th of the same month I examined all the nests at
the Fames. In the large colony on the Knoxes, hardly a nest was
lined. A few contained odds and ends, but there could be no
certainty that these were placed there by the terns. The birds on
the Inner Wideopens nested in the sea-campion, and either made
a scrape in the loose bits or laid on them. The nests were thus more
or less lined, but apparently by no effort on the part of the owners.
In all these cases the nests contained eggs. The difference in habits
between the two sets of colonies is probably to be explained by the
nature of the sites. On the Knoxes the supply of nest material is
very scanty ; at Ravenglass it is abundant.3 There is no evidence
that the birds add material to their nests during the season, but it
is not improbable that they do so, especially after rain.4

The eggs are laid in the early part of May, and vary considerably
in colour (see " Classified Notes "). Both sexes share in the duty
of incubation. I have seen them several times take each other's place
on the nest. Both when doing this, and when the cock is feeding
the hen, the curious displays, already described in the case of the

1 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 316.

2 Naumann, op. cit., p. 160: "trockene Sandwatten und vom Meere umgegebene Sandbanke,
oder Felseii mit von Natur abgeplatteten Stellen."

3 H. Saunders (Manual, 2nd ed., p. 644) records both lined and unlined nests. Dr. Patten
(Aquatic Birds, p. 385) makes the unlined predominate. Naumann (op. cit., p. 160) states that
there are no lined nests, a statement in which his editors apparently concur.

4 See p. 85.

104 THE TERNS

common and Arctic-terns, may and often do take place. The favourite
attitude — wings half spread and flat-topped, beak turned upward, tail
sometimes also erect, air of high condescension — is shown on Plate 102,
drawn from life at the Fames by Mr. Seaby. The supplicating attitude
of the hen is also shown, from which it must not be assumed that she
always adopts it. She sometimes snatches the fish from her mate's beak.
On the other hand, she has sometimes to exercise patience. I have
seen a cock suddenly fly off with the fish, just when the hen had risen
from the nest in the full expectation of a meal. She crept very humbly
back. It might have been a scene from the Taming of the Shrew.
On the left of the same picture two males are seen parading before
each other, or rather round each other, for what purpose I could not
divine, as the performance abruptly ceased, each bird going about
his business as if nothing had occurred. The drawing, as a whole,
gives a very lifelike image of the corner of a Sandwich-tern colony.
No birds are more charming to watch, the soft grey and white of the
plumage, the black velvety wind-tossed mane-like crests, the small
black legs pattering with precise little steps over the sand, the quaint
ceremonious bows — gentlemen of the old school these terns ! — the
fluttering butterfly-like descents to the ground, the white grey wings
flashing in the blue of the sky, or over the deeper blue of the sea, all
combine to make a picture of which one does not tire, which one can
sit and watch by the hour, and which, among the dusty ways of men,
one can see again in mental vision, and rejoice in its freshness and
beauty.

The displays of the Sandwich before nesting operations commence
I have not had an opportunity of watching. According to an account
published in Ussher and Warren's Birds of Ireland (p. 318), the males,
at this period, strut about among the females, "their heads being
thrown back and their wings drooping, or almost trailing on the
ground. After a time, if there is no response from the females, which
generally look on at the performance with the greatest unconcern,
one of the males goes off for a time and returns with a sand-eel in his

Plate 1O2

Sandwich-terns, corner of a nesting colony

By A. W. Seaby

SANDWICH-TERN 105

bill, after which he again struts about with wings and bill in the same
position, offering the sand-eel from one to another of the females as
he passes along unnoticed, until at last he meets one who accepts his
offering, when he sits down to settle their arrangements for the
season." If the interpretation of the facts here given be correct,
it is clear that, in the opinion of the Sandwich-tern, the shortest way
to the hearts of the fair is through that portion of their anatomy
which is generally supposed among human beings to afford the
promptest means of access to the affections of the male sex.

The chicks are hatched after about three weeks' incubation,
according to records kept by the watcher at Ravenglass, who marked
eggs in the nest, and by Mr. F. G. Paynter at the Fames, who placed
some in an incubator. The same period is given by Naumann.1 The
chicks vary considerably in coloration, especially with respect to the
beak and legs. I have found chicks, just beginning to feather, with
beaks either dusky hued, darker towards the end and yellow tipped
or all yellow, or, again, orange-yellow, dusky towards the end and
yellow tipped. A young bird, noted by Mr. Charles Oldham, which
had acquired its first plumage, but was unable to fly, had the bill
yellowish horn, and a chick three or four days old had the same dull
vermilion with blackish tip.2 Mr. Oldham or I have again found legs
of chicks greenish black, purplish, liver-coloured, also lead-coloured,
and legs of feathered young dark purplish and lead-coloured.

About the second or third day after hatching the chicks have
completely disappeared from the nesting-area. On June 14, for in-
stance, I noted at Ravenglass in one pack a certain number of chicks
which were just hatched or hatching, also a few a day or so more
advanced. The next day they all had gone. Once away from the
nest they are not easy to find. At Ravenglass, in company with
Mr. Oldham, I found a few in the long marram grass some distance
from the nests. They were crouching in little self-made scrapes, and
when disturbed ran away, making active use of their wings, or rather

1 Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 65. * Zoologist, 1908, 168.

VOL. III. O

106 THE TERNS

arms, to help them over the inequalities of the ground. One, which
tumbled into a small hole, put considerable pressure on its arms to
help itself out. In this habit they differ from the chicks of the black-
headed-gulls, which run with their wings closed unless hard pressed,
when they open them, moved thereto by what seems an instinctive
desire to take flight. The method of the little gulls is much better
adapted to escape through marram grass than that of the little terns,
whose outspread arms are a hindrance rather than a help. It is on
shingle or rough stony soil that the latter find their arms of use, a fact
noted already in the case of the Arctic-tern (p. 89). This points to
the probability that such ground is their natural nesting habitat.

The chicks are fed by their parents on small fish, which are either
put in their beaks or dropped in front of them. When they are fledged,
they are fed in the air as well as on the ground.

The parent birds differ from the other British terns in their
method of fishing, in that it is their usual habit to dive right under the
water, and remain under an appreciable time — some two to three
seconds. Like the others, they hover, before diving, over the water.
This they do at various heights, from twenty to sixty feet more or less,
their beaks being usually directed straight downward. When they
have marked their fish, they drop suddenly in an oblique direction,
using their wings, which remain partly open to direct their course.
They appear to close them, or nearly so, immediately before entering
the water, which they do with a splash. Like the other terns, they
also pick food off the surface of the water, after the manner of gulls,
that is, without alighting.1

The Sandwich-tern has not appeared to me as aggressive in de-
fence of its eggs and young as the common and Arctic, though, like
them, it will swoop down upon intruders. Naumann states that it
attacks vigorously, and strikes them with the wings. If the Sandwich
does strike with the wings, it differs in this respect from the common
and Arctic, who, as already noted, strike with the point of the beak. I

1 See p. 90.

LITTLE-TERN 107

have never been struck by a Sandwich-tern, though I have often
handled their eggs and young, and I find this to be the experience
of others. Its enemies are those of the rest of its genus.1 Of the
manner of its departure little is known. On quitting the breeding-
grounds the birds do not necessarily move southward. A young bird
of the year, ringed at Ravenglass when a nestling (June 30, 1909), was
captured thirty to forty miles north of that place on August 20th.2 It
seems, therefore, that the Sandwich-terns linger about our coasts
awhile before the southward movement begins, and this no doubt,
as in the case of other terns, takes place in a leisurely manner.

LITTLE-TEKN
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

The little-tern is peculiar in having the front part of the crown
white in summer as well as in winter ; its congeners have it in
winter only. It is, further, easily distinguished from them by its
smaller size, being not much larger than a song-thrush, except in
length of wing. It makes up for its size by its aggressive noisiness, and
may often be seen racing on the wing up and down the beach in a
state of fussy alarm, ready to make a prompt attack on any crow or
gull that happens to cross over its breeding-ground. What, no doubt,
increases its general air of alacrity is the fact that its wings, being
shorter than those of the larger species, are beaten more quickly, giving
it, comparatively speaking, the appearance of being always in a hurry.

The usual notes uttered by the species when it sees its breeding-
ground invaded, is a sharp excited kweek, uttered often in conjunction
with a sound like tik, in varying combination, e.g. kweek, tik, tik, kweek,
tik, tik, tik, or kweek, kweek, kweek, tik, kweek, kweek. . . . Both notes may
be uttered separately. A familiar note, often heard as the bird flies

1 See p. 92. » British Birds, Hi. 181.

108 THE TERNS

speedily to the sea, is a rapid, equally excited tiri-wiri-tiri-wiri-tiri-wiri I
a sort of general announcement to the beach that the little-tern
is coming, and that he means to assert himself, if necessary.

The first arrivals reach our south coast in mid- April, but they
are not seen at the more northerly breeding-grounds till the end of
the month or early May.1

Though there are several colonies scattered up and down our
coasts, these are usually small, sometimes composed of only a few
pairs. The average number of pairs to a colony would fall far short
of that of the other British-breeding terns, excluding, of course, the
roseate. The same fact was long ago noted by Naumann.2 The
marked preference for the open beach as a nesting-place shown by the
species, as compared with its congeners, may supply the explanation,
for not only are its chicks thereby much exposed to the effects of
bad weather, but its eggs are often washed away. At Dungeness I
have found chicks shivering on the beach on a sharp windy day in
July, and some of them did not survive the experience. Deaths from
exposure to rough wreather are also recorded annually at Spurn Point.3
A good instance of the damage done by high tides to the eggs is
provided by the same colony. There the danger is so well recog-
nised that, when necessary, the watcher is in the habit of removing
the eggs " a considerable distance inshore, and the birds easily find
them." 3 One may here remark, parenthetically, that, if it is possible
for birds to be astonished, certainly those at Spurn Point have reason
to feel so, for it is not the usual practice of human beings, when they
take eggs, to deposit them where they can be found by their rightful
owners. Another colony that nested on a shingle bank in the estuary
of the Dovey was less fortunate. Twice, in 1903 and 1907, its home
was flooded, and the eggs floated away on the water.4

Though it nests usually, in the British Isles at least, on the

1 For the dates see " Classified Notes."

J There are exceptions. Seebohm records that near a ternery, Missolonghi (Greece), he
found the little much more numerous than the common, a discovery which he celebrated by
blowing two hundred and fifty of their eggs.

3 British Birds, ii. 320 (Oxley Grabham). 4 Forrest, Fauna of N. Wales, p. 376.

LITTLE-TERN 109

beach, the little-tern, like the common, nests also inland on the
shingly banks of rivers. In Germany it is far more numerous in
such places than the common.1 It nests usually in shingle, or on
sand among stones, broken shells, and bits of seaweed. Mr. W.
Farren has informed me that in Spain he saw it nesting on the mud
in the marismas. Naumann, who in his time examined hundreds of
nests in Germany, never saw one on bare sand.2 In the British Isles
and in Holland,3 however, nests on bare sand are undoubtedly found.
(PL XLIV.) Occasionally, after a heavy gale, the eggs disappear,
buried in the sand to a depth of several inches. At Spurn Point it
has been noted that "the old birds almost invariably scratch them
out again, and make all right."4

Naumann's view was that the little-terns avoided bare sand because
their coloration would, by contrast with the yellow, render them conspic-
uous to their enemies. It is certainly true that a little-tern sitting in
shingle or on sand among stones and broken shells is much less easily
detected than when on bare sand. I have often, at fifty yards distance,
watched, through a strong binocular, one after another fly on to its nest
in shingle, and then, on putting away the binocular and looking long
and steadily at the spot, have yet entirely failed to detect the bird, so
well did its coloration blend with the vague outlines of the black, white,
and grey stones.

The chief value of its coloration to the species lies, no doubt, in
that it enables the birds to incubate without betraying the where-
abouts of their eggs. If it was evolved by natural selection for this
purpose, it is interesting to note that the natural selectors, four-footed
or other, have now in the British Isles ceased to exert an important
influence. The little-tern, though it nests usually where its colora-
tion has protective value, is nevertheless among the least successful
of its kind in the struggle for existence. It is much less successful,
for example, than the common and Arctic, though they nest often on

1 Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 124. * Op. cit., p. 125. 3 F. C. R. Jourdain, in litt.

* British Birds, ii. 321 (O. Grabham). See also Forrest, Fauna of N. Wales, p. 376, and
Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 398.

110 THE TERNS

rocks, sand, turf, in campion, marram-grass, and other positions where
their plumage has no protective value, but where they thrive as well
as when they nest in shingle, which renders them as invisible as it
does the smaller species.

The conditions that govern the struggle for existence in the case
of the Terns, as of many other birds, have been altered by man. He
is at once their chief enemy and their chief friend. He destroys their
other enemies, and protects them from the more predaceous of his
own kind in the breeding season, while he leaves them often to be
slaughtered afterwards. Against him concealing coloration is no
defence, not even as a protection to the eggs, for he has only to watch
the bird alight on its nest, and carefully mark the spot to be sure of
obtaining the clutch.

I know of one case, however, in which the little-tern profited by
its conservative habits. This was at Walney Island in 1905. While,
as noted on p. 93, the eggs of the Arctic-terns, laid inland among the
sand-hills, were almost all devoured by rats, those of the little-terns
down on the beach escaped. How far this was due to the concealing
coloration of the latter species it would be difficult to say, for the rats
might have in any case avoided the beach, even if the whole colony
of Arctic-terns had moved thereto.

Naumann, whom I quote because he was very familiar with the
genus under consideration, never saw a lined nest of the little-tern.
The few stalks he occasionally found in them had the appearance of
being there by accident and not design. Yet nests lined with shells
(PL XLIV.) or small pebbles1 are not infrequently found in some of
the British breeding-places, and there is a record of one " lined with
a few dry stems of grass.' l Sometimes the eggs are laid on a bed of
shells, or bits of shells an inch or two deep. The shells are brought
either from a distance or gathered from the immediate surroundings
of the nest, in the latter case a distinct bare zone being perceptible
between the nest and the encircling shell-bed.2 Usually the eggs are

1 Macpherson, Fauna of Lakeland, p. 418. ' Irish Naturalist, 1899, p. 191 (Patten).

LITTLE-TERN 111

laid in an unlined depression, and occasionally among stones without
depression. It will be seen therefore that the little-tern, like its
congeners, displays marked individual variations in its nest-building.
It makes either no nest, or a bared depression in the ground, or a
lined depression. Examples of all three classes may be found in the
same colony. The nature of the lining also varies, but not so much
as in the case of the other terns, for the reason, no doubt, that a
smaller variety of suitable material is available on the beach than
farther inland.

Like the common and Arctic, the little-tern usually makes several
depressions or scrapes before it selects the final spot for its eggs. The
depression is made by the simple process of pressing the breast down
into the ground and rotating (see p. 87), the sand or soil being no
doubt, as in the case of the above-mentioned terns, scratched out
backward during the process with the feet.1

The eggs are laid usually in the latter part of May. The male,
both at this stage and before, is assiduous in feeding the hen. When
presenting his fish, he strikes the same remarkable postures as the
terns previously described (Plate 98). The little-tern is, in fact, just
as fascinating to watch as its larger congeners. By "watching" I
mean not marching about over its breeding-ground, but sitting, with a
good binocular in hand, some fifty yards away from the colony ; sitting
still, and for hours at a time, and day after day. It is only thus that
one comes to realise how extraordinarily interesting the birds are,
and how extraordinarily little we know about their intimate life.
It is true that the same acts are performed over and over again,
but seldom or never in exactly the same way. There is repetition
with variation, and these variations are worth close and careful
study.

The chicks are hatched in less than three weeks. Like those of
the species of this genus already described, they vary considerably in

1 The Sandwich also no doubt acts in exactly the same way, but I have never had an
opportunity of seeing it at work.

112 THE TERNS

coloration. Mr. Oxley Grabham has noted two distinct types at Spurn
Point, one much yellower than the other.1 I made a note of two
chicks (Dungeness) which had the ground-colour of the upper parts
sandy-grey, whereas some described (Thames estuary) by Mr. Hepburn
had the same sandy-yellow.2 Grey or yellow, they are equally well con-
cealed by their coloration, when crouching among the shingle. It may
be worth adding that the two chicks I noted had the throat sandy-
grey, thus providing an exception to Naumann's statement that the
throat of the little-tern is pure white in the down stage.3

The chicks readily quit the nest, impelled no doubt by a desire to
seek shelter from sun, wind, or rain, under the shady or lee side of a
stone or plant. The chicks and fledged young are fed on small fish in
the same way as those of the larger species. The parents usually
descend direct on to the spot where the chicks are, but I have seen
them, when conscious of being under observation, alight some yards
away, then fly up again to alight nearer the chicks, and do this three
or four times before reaching their goal, — a very different proceeding
from that of the ringed-plover, which is frequently found nesting
near them, and which, after alighting in the neighbourhood of
its nest, approaches it in a much more discreet fashion, by a series
of irregular short runs and with an air of making for nowhere in
particular.

The little-tern's method of fishing is similar to that of the common
and Arctic. It hovers, as if suspended, several feet above the surface
of the water, its tail spread and slightly deflected, its beak usually
bent vertically downward ; it then drops head first, the wings part
closed, and enters the water with a splash, but without as a rule sub-
merging its whole body. It seems indeed almost at once to assume
the horizontal position and rise. When hovering, the birds have been
observed to "work themselves backward several inches," so as to
get in the right position for the plunge.4 I have seen them, when

1 British Birds, ii. 319. » Zoologist, 1904, p. 173.

3 Vogel Mitteleuropos, xi. 120. 4 Zoologist, 1904, pp. 173-9 (Th. Hepburn).

LITTLE-TERN 113

dropping into shallow water, instead of diving, alight on the surface.
They often make false descents, that is, they check themselves and
take wing before reaching the water.

The little-tern appears, for the most part, to set out upon
its southward journey to winter quarters in September. In this
connection a curious fact is related as the result of an attempt to
introduce the species on to the Fames by placing eggs in the nests
of the common and Arctic-terns. The little-terns were hatched out,
and they departed southward in the autumn with their foster-parents,
but they were not seen on the Fames the following spring. Unfor-
tunately these birds were not marked, so we do not know where they
went.

1 British Birds, ii. 321 (O. Grabham).

VOL. III.

THE GULLS

[ORDER : Charadriiformes. FAMILY : Laridce. SUBFAMILY : Larince]
PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES

[r. C. R. JOTJRDAIN. F. B. KIRKMAN. A. L. THOMSON. W. P. PYCRAFTJ

BLACKHEADED-GULL [Larus ridibundus Linnaeus. Peewit-gull,
sea-maw, sea-crow, patch, redlegged-gull, turnock; rittock (Orkneys).
French, goeland rieur ; German, Loch-Move ; Italian, gdbbiano comune].

I. Description. — The adult blackheaded-gull may readily be distinguished
at all seasons by the deep blood-red colour of the beak and legs, and the broad
margin of white along the front edge of the wing. The sexes are alike, and
there is a distinct seasonal change of coloration. Length 16 inches [406 '40 mm.].
(PI. 103.) The breeding dress differs from that of the winter only in that the head
is covered — except for a rim of small white feathers behind, and partly encircling
the eye — by a " hood " of dark " coffee " brown, which is assumed in the spring
by a moult. The back and wing-coverts are of a delicate pearl-grey, the rest of the
plumage pure white, but the breast, during the breeding season, may be suffused
with a faint and evanescent rose-pink. The six outer primaries have a black
terminal band and a white tip, the rest of the feather being grey, save the three
outermost, which are white instead of grey. The white tips to these quills are
soon lost or greatly reduced by abrasion. In the winter the dark hood is lost, but
there is a patch of dark grey over the auriculars. The inside of the mouth is of
the same hue as the beak and legs, but paler. In the young in down the ground-
colour of the upper parts is of varying shades of buffish brown, with in many cases
a strong rufous tinge. This is relieved by black markings representing disin-
tegrated stripes. As with all disintegrating patterns, they vary individually, but
a median stripe on the crown, and two longitudinal lines down the hind-neck
and back can generally be traced, and commonly, also, a pair of lateral stripes.
The down plumage is followed by what further research may show to be in

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 115

part, at least, a mesoptyle plumage. In this the crown, nape, and sides of the
head are greyish brown, the upper part of the hind-neck white, forming a half-
collar, the free ends of which blend with the white of the fore-neck. The rest of
the hind-neck, interscapulars and scapulars are dark brown — varying in intensity
in different individuals — each feather having a margin of paler brown. The back
is pearl-grey, passing into white on the rump. The median and minor coverts
are dark brown, with paler brown margins : the marginals white : major coverts
pearl-grey, washed with brown at the tips and with a tendency to a dark slate-
coloured shaft-streak. Secondaries with a black patch in the distal half, leaving
a greyish white margin along the lower part of the patch. Primaries with the
terminal half black, and faint white tips to all but the three outermost ; basal
portion of the feather white. Primary major coverts white. Bastard quills white,
with a black patch margined with white at the tips. Tail white, with a broad
black terminal bar. The fore-neck and uppermost flank feathers buff coloured,
rest of under parts white. Down feathers are adherent to the tips of most of the
feathers of the upper parts at this stage, especially on the head, scapulars, rump,
and tail. Beak pinkish grey or purplish. Later the plumage of the adult in winter
is assumed, save that the minor coverts remain brown and the tail retains its black
bar. In the following spring and summer the immature birds may still be distin-
guished by the same tokens. To what extent they assume the brown hood at this
stage is still a matter for investigation, [w. P. P.]

2. Distribution. — During the breeding season this species congregates in
colonies in marshy districts, often near the coast, but also occasionally far inland.
In the south of England there are colonies in Dorset near Poole, in Hampshire,
at Dungeness in Kent, near the Essex coast, while there is a large colony at
Scoulton Mere in Norfolk and another at Twigmoor in Lincolnshire. Several
colonies exist in Wales, the largest being near Lake Bala. Northward colonies exist
in Yorkshire, Northumberland, Durham, Walney Island, at Winmarleigh Moss near
Garstang in Lancashire, and in various localities in Cumberland, of which that at
Ravenglass is the best known. In Scotland it becomes more general, breeding
commonly on the lowland marshes and also in the hill tarns, but most numerously
in the Clyde, Forth, Tay, Solway, and Moray areas, though found throughout the
mainland and also in the Orkneys and Shetlands, but absent almost entirely from
the islands off the West Coast. In Ireland it is a common resident, breeding in
enormous colonies in some of the inland bogs, such as the Bog of the Ring,
Tullamore, and absent only from the eastern and southern counties and the

116 THE GULLS

marine islands. A small colony has, however, been recorded from one of the
Blasket Isles. On the Continent its northern breeding-range extends to Southern
Norway, and the south and east coast of Sweden, while it also breeds on the coast
of Finland, Lake Onega, near Archangel, and in the Vologda and Perm govern-
ments, as well as in the Faeroes. Southward it is distributed in suitable districts
over the Continent to the Mediterranean, but there is no proof of its breeding in
the Iberian Peninsula or South Italy, though it nests in Sardinia. In the Balkan
Peninsula it breeds in the Danube valley but not in Greece. In Asia it is met
with in the valleys of the Ob, Viliui, Lena, and Kolyma, as well as in
Kamchatka, but apparently not in the Yenesei valley, and is said to breed in
Transcaspia and Turkestan. Its whiter range extends to the Mediterranean and
North-west Africa, the Azores, Egypt, and the Nile valley to the Egyptian
Sudan, the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Northern India, China, Japan, and the
Philippine Islands. [F. c. R. J.]

3. Migration. — The blackheaded - gull is found in the British Isles at all
seasons, and is indeed abundant throughout the year all round our coasts,
although withdrawing from many inland districts in winter. Nevertheless, the
species is notably migratory ; within our area a distinct movement towards the
southern parts becomes obvious on the approach of winter, and some of the birds
leave our shores for still more southerly quarters. To what extent a winter
immigration from the north may exist is uncertain, but it is known that birds bred
in eastern Europe visit the south of England on passage. Some light has already
been thrown on the question by the recovery of " marked" birds. In the first place,
we have the case of a young blackheaded-gull born and marked in Aberdeenshire
hi 1910, and killed near Bayon, Gironde, France, about January 18, 1911 (cf.
Thomson, Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin., vol. xviii. p. 217). On the other hand, we have
a case of a bird not only remaining within our area but actually moving northwards
within it : born and marked in Cumberland in 1910, found dead at Fraserburgh,
Aberdeenshire, on February 20, 1911 (cf. Witherby, British Birds, vol. iv. p. 336).
We may also summarise the results obtained by marking in North-eastern Germany,
in that they partly affect our area. A number of blackheaded-gulls were marked
as nestlings at a colony at Rossitten, at the south-eastern corner of the Baltic Sea.
The subsequent recoveries of these are considered to indicate three routes. One
follows the Baltic, North Sea, Channel, and Atlantic coasts to the Bay of Biscay ;
another goes part of the same way, and then crosses by the Rhine and the Rhone
to the Mediterranean, reaching the Balearic Isles ; the third crosses direct to the

PLATE XLIV

Photo by F. B. Kirkma

UnusuaUy large nest of blackheaded.grull (Ravenglass)

Three nests of blaokheadetl.gull In marram grass (Walney)

Photo by Riley Fortuu

Klttlwake's nest and nestling

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 117

Adriatic, reaching Southern Italy and Tunis (cf. Thienemann, Journal fur Orni-
thologie, 1909, pp. 449-458, and plate viii.). Whether we accept this interpretation
or not, it is of interest to note that the first of these supposed routes is represented
in the British Isles by records from Great Yarmouth and the Isle of Wight respec-
tively. At all times very gregarious, and probably mainly a diurnal traveller,
although sometimes heard passing overhead at night. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — As a rule the nest is placed on tussocks in marshy
ground, but sometimes it is built on floating vegetation in water, and also at times
on dry land in the neighbourhood of marshes. Large colonies are also found nest-
ing on sandhills near the sea. Sometimes the nests are placed so close together
that it is difficult to walk between them without treading on the eggs. At Twig-
moor a few pairs build in trees, several feet from the ground (Seebohm, History of
British Birds, iii. p. 311 ; 0. Grabham, Field, June?, 1902; R. Fortune, Naturalist,
1910, p. 95, etc.). The nest is a tolerably substantial one, built of dead sedges,
reeds, grass, or other vegetable matter, which, according to Naumann, is contributed
by both birds, but see p. 145. (PL XLIV.) The eggs are generally three in number,
but four are occasionally found in one nest, and in some cases are almost certainly
the produce of one hen. In large colonies extraordinary variation is found. Some
thin-shelled eggs are bluish white in ground-colour, and are without markings or have
all the colour concentrated into one huge blotch or zone of deep brown at the big
end, but most eggs vary from stone colour to olive-brown in ground, and are blotched
and spotted with purple-grey shell-markings and deep brown or blackish. In some
cases the ground-colour ranges to bright blue, which, however, soon fades, and other
eggs have a greenish ground. A rare type is distinctly erythristic, and has a warm
reddish ground with brownish red markings. Zones, sometimes very distinctly
marked, of light blue occasionally appear on these eggs (cf. British Birds, iv. pp. 317
and 220). (PL I.) Average size of 76 eggs, 2-2x1-46 in. [52-8x37-2 mm.].
The eggs are laid at intervals of a day, and are incubated for 20 days (H. S. Glad-
stone), 17-18 days (P. H. Bahr, Home Life of Marsh Birds, p. 54), or 22-24 days
from laying of last (?) egg (W. Evans). Both sexes take part in incubation. The
breeding season begins about .the middle of April in the south of England, and
about a week later in the north, while in Scotland the average time is towards
the end of April. Normally only one brood is reared in the season, but when
robbed the hen will lay again several times. [F. o. R. J.]

5. Food. — In a report made in 1907 by Mr. D. L. Thorpe and Mr. Hope
to the County Council of Cumberland, it was shown, as a result of 100 post-mortem

118 THE GULLS

examinations, that the staple diet of the blackheaded-gull consists of earthworms and
insects. In only 14 was grain found, and fish in 9. As many as 42 % contained
those agricultural pests, the wire-worm and crane-fly larva. One bird was found to
have devoured 30 slugs. Mr. R. Newstead, in his report to the Board of Agriculture
in 1908, found after examination of 80 pellets and four birds, that insects formed
the great bulk of the food, and these, with only one exception, were either injurious
to man or did not affect his interests. Mr. Newstead draws special attention to
the destruction of crane-flies by this gull. On soaking one of their pellets in water
" it was found to contain the remains of about 400 crane-flies and 1600 of their
eggs ; the latter had evidently been taken while yet in the body of the parent.
Each pellet probably represented a single meal, and there can be but little doubt
that each bird would make at least ten meals daily of these insects. If this were
so, a single gull would be accountable for the enormous number of 4000 crane-flies
and their eggs per day, making an aggregate of 28,000 per week. As the gulls
flocked together in hundreds, the number of insects which they devoured may
better be imagined than described " (Food of some British Birds, 1908, p. 85). The
species also devours small crustaceans and molluscs. It appears only to take to
grain and fish when its favourite food runs short, and the former only when left
uncovered. No complaints appear to have been made by farmers who use the
drill. It will occasionally eat the eggs of its own species, and possibly of other
species. From the ascertained facts, it may be concluded that the blackheaded-
gull is highly beneficial to the agriculturist, and that the harm it does to fisheries
is small. The young are fed, doubtless by both parents, chiefly on insects and
worms. One young gull, which I disturbed, left behind for my inspection sixty
caterpillars and four beetles. Marine worms were disgorged at Walney by young
gulls persecuted by terns. It is stated that they are fed also with sand-eels
(British Birds, iii. 169). [F. B. K.]

LITTLE-GULL \Lwrus minuius Pallas. French, mouette pygmee ;
German, Zwerg-Move ; Italian, gabbianello].

I. Description. — The little-gull may at once be recognised by its small
size, the French grey colour of the primaries, and the dark lead-blue colour of the
under surface of the wing. There is a distinct seasonal change of livery, and the
sexes are alike. Length 11 in. [279-40 mm.]. The adult, in nuptial dress, has
the head and upper part of the neck black ; the mantle and wings French grey ;

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 119

the hindmost scapulars, secondaries, and primaries are broadly tipped with white.
The rest of the plumage is pure white, suffused on the breast with a delicate salmon-
pink. Beak reddish brown, legs vermilion. In winter the forehead is white,
while the crown, nape, and hind-neck are French grey, like the mantle and wings,
which are as in summer. Behind and below the auriculars is a small black patch.
Immature birds have the upper parts brownish black — varying in intensity indi-
vidually— variegated by bars of white, which form the tips of the feathers ; these
bars are broadest on the scapulars. The wing-coverts are dusky, with similar
bars of white. The major coverts of the primaries are black, and the outermost
primaries have their outer webs black, and a band of slate colour along the shaft
of the inner web. The inner primaries are dark French grey, fading into white on
the inner web, and with a subterminal transverse bar of black and a white tip.
The under surface of the wing is white, not lead blue as in the adult. The tail,
which is slightly forked, has a terminal bar of black. Birds of the second year are
to be distinguished from adults by the broad black band across the wing, formed
by the minor wing-coverts, and the black tips to the outer tail feathers, [w. P. P.]

2. Distribution. — To the British Isles this species is an irregular visitor
in winter and on passage. Its breeding-range extends in the west to the islands
of Rodby (1901) and Klaegbanken in Denmark, while in the Baltic it bred in N.E.
Germany at the Drausensee (1899) and at Kossitten in 1902, and has recently
re-colonised Gotland; while in 1901 it bred in S. Upland and probably also in
Jemtland on the Swedish side. On the Russian side of the Baltic it nests in some
numbers at several localities in the Baltic provinces, and at Karlo in the Gulf of
Bothnia. Eastward there are large colonies on Lake Ladoga, a single colony near
Archangel, and others in the Moscow, Kazan, Ufa, and Perm governments. In
Asia it breeds from the Ob valley (64° N.) east to the Sea of Okhotsk. Its winter
range in Europe extends to the Mediterranean and the northern coasts of Africa,
from Marocco to Egypt, but in Southern Asia there is only a single record of its
occurrence in India, in January 1859, and it apparently migrates westward to the
Caspian and Black Seas. Stragglers have been recorded from the Faeroes, New
York State, Maine, Bermudas, and Mexico. [F. c. R. J.]

3. Migration. — A cold weather visitor from Eastern Europe, in irregular
numbers. It occurs mainly on the east coast of Great Britain, less frequently on
the south of England and the west of Scotland, and irregularly on the west of
England and on the Irish coasts. September and October are the months in
which it is most frequently recorded. Unusually large numbers visited the York-

120 THE GULLS

shire coast in the winters of 1866 and 1868, and the whole east of England in 1869,
and again, after heavy easterly gales, in February 1870. On the last occasion, an
unusually large proportion of adults was recorded. In British waters the little-
gull is occasionally seen in small parties, and is sometimes noticed associating
with Arctic-terns (cf. Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 668). [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Does not nest in the British Isles. [F. c. B. J.]

5. Food. — Chiefly aquatic and other insects and molluscs; also small
fish (Naumann, H. Just, Koenig, Sandman). The stomachs of birds examined by
W. Meves contained chiefly small fish, insects being found only in a few (Dresser
and Sharpe, Birds of Europe.) [F. B. K.]

COMMON-GULL [Larus canus Linnaeus. Sea or winter-mew, kitty,
cob ; white-maa (Orkneys), small or blue-maa (Shetlands). French, goeland
cendre ; German, Sturm-Move ; Italian, gavina].

1. Description. — The pearl-grey of the back, and the yellowish green of the
beak and legs, at once distinguish the common-gull from its congeners. The sexes
are alike, and there is a barely perceptible seasonal change of coloration. (PI. 104.)
Length 18 in. [457 '20 mm.]. In summer dress the head, neck, tail, and under parts
pure white, the back and wings pearl-grey save the primaries, which are black tipped
with white save the two outermost feathers, which have a subterminal white spot.
After the autumn moult the head and neck are more or less conspicuously streaked
with ash-brown. In the juvenile plumage the feathers of the upper parts are of an
ash-brown fringed with dull white, but the upper tail-coverts are white with ash-
brown spots : the tail is white with a broad band of black across the terminal half,
as in the young blackheaded-gull, from which, however, it may at all times be
distinguished by its larger size and the totally different coloration of the rest of
the plumage. The crown and under parts are mottled, and the flanks are heavily
spotted with ash-brown. The young in down are variable in coloration, but have
the head more or less conspicuously spotted and striped with dull black, and the
back obscurely striped. Under parts white, [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — As a breeding species the common-gull is unknown in
England and Wales, but nests commonly on inland lochs up to nearly 3000 feet on
the mainland of Scotland, and also on many parts of the coast, but not in the north-
east. On the west side its limits extend south to the Solway Firth, and it breeds
commonly on the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetlands. In Ireland

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 121

it is now known to breed in Co. Sligo (where it was first discovered in 1855), as
well as in counties Mayo, Donegal, and Galway, and on one of the Blaskets (Co.
Kerry). On the Continent it formerly nested on Texel, and a single pair bred in
West Holland in 1909. Eastward it breeds on the East Frisian Islands (Rottum and
the Memmert), the North Frisian Isles (Ellenbogen and Amrum), in some numbers
in Jylland, Denmark ; on the Langenwerder in Mecklenburg, and in the Russian
Baltic provinces and the coasts of Finland. Throughout Scandinavia it is common,
and in Russia its range extends from the Lapland coasts and the Kola and Kanin
Peninsulas southward ; while its most southerly breeding-places are at the mouth
of the Don and in Transcaucasia and Transcaspia according to Buturlin. In Asia
it breeds in the basins of all the great Siberian rivers up to about 67°-70°, and
on the Amur to Kamchatka. In western North America it is replaced by an
allied race. The winter range of this species includes the coasts of Central
Europe and the Mediterranean basin, while it has occurred in the Canaries and in
the Nile Valley as well as in the Persian Gulf, and has strayed to Iceland and
Labrador. Asiatic birds range to Japan and China. [F. c. R. J.]

3. Migration. — Resident. To what extent migratory movement exists can
only be conjectured, and all that can be said with certainty is that the species
becomes generally distributed in winter, and visits England and other regions in
which it does not breed. Immigration to Ireland from Great Britain is considered
probable (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 332). [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — This gull breeds by preference on low grassy islands,
the grassy tops of low cliffs, and the sloping shores of lochs, avoiding precipitous
cliffs and rocky coast-lines. The nests are also found high up in the hills, at an
elevation of 2000 feet (Harvie-Brown, Fauna of the Tay Basin, p. 340a ; Fauna of
the Moray Basin, p. 215). They are generally to be found in colonies, and are
substantially built of heather twigs, seaweed, dry bents, rushes, etc., as a rule,
though occasionally very little material is used to line the nest-hollow. In Scandi-
navia and the N. Baltic it has been known to place its nest in a coniferous tree, and
to take possession of an old hooded-crow's nest. (PI. XLV.) The eggs are normally
three in number, and the clutches of five and six eggs, which have been recorded
from Sylt and elsewhere, are probably the produce of two hens. In shape they are a
much broader oval than those of the blackheaded-gull. The ground-colour varies
from ochreous to dark olive-brown, and the markings consist of spots, blotches,
and streaks of deep blackish brown, with underlying ashy shell-marks. Some
varieties have the ground pale greenish or even light blue, and in such cases the

VOL. III. Q

122 THE GULLS

markings are often almost obsolete. (PI. I.) Average size of 85 eggs, 2-3 x 1-6 in.
[58*5 x 41-6 mm.]. Nothing appears to be recorded as to the length of the incuba-
tion period in this species or the share of each parent, but probably it lasts for about
three weeks. The breeding season in Scotland begins as a rule about the second
week in May, sometimes a few days earlier, and though only one brood is reared,
second and third layings may be found fresh throughout May and June where the
birds are much harried. In more northerly situations, such as the Gulf of Bothnia
and northern Scandinavia, the eggs are often not laid till June. [F. c. n. J.]

5. Food. — The species is omnivorous. Worms, insects, crustaceans,
molluscs, fish (alive and dead), garbage, occasionally grain, small birds, and voles,
all form part of its dietary. The young are fed by both parents, probably on
worms, insects chiefly, but exact information is lacking. [F. B. K.]

HERRING-GULL [Larus argentatus argentatus Pontoppidan ; Larus
argentatus Gmelin. Cob, silver-back, ladrum-gull (Devon), white-maa
(Shetlands). French, goeland argente ; German, Silber-Move ; Italian,
gabbiano reale nordica],

i. Description. — The adult herring-gull resembles the lesser blackbacked-
gull, but is at once distinguished by its larger size and the pearl-grey colour of the
back and wing-coverts, the flesh-coloured legs, and the yellow rim round the eyelid.
The sexes are alike, and there is a slight seasonal change of coloration. (PI. 105.)
Length 24 in. [609 '60 mm.]. As in the lesser blackbacked-gull, the scapulars,
secondaries, and primaries are tipped with white. The outermost primary differs
from that of the lesser blackbacked-gull in that the white area of the terminal por-
tion of the quill is much larger, and crossed by a narrow sub-apical bar of black, while
the penultimate feather is tipped white, and has a large white patch or " mirror "
some distance from the tip, and in the closed wing concealed by the tip of the
fourth primary. The innermost primaries are pearl-grey ; while the black area
gradually decreases in the outermost primaries from the first (outermost) to the
sixth, which has only a black spot near the tip of the outer web. After the autumn
moult, the crown and hind-neck are streaked with ash colour. The juvenile
plumage differs from that of the lesser blackbacked-gull in the markedly paler hue
of the ground-colour, and in that the white marginal areas are not of uniform width
but irregular, giving a more mottled appearance to the plumage. On the long inner
secondaries this marginal area of white forms a dentate pattern. The inner webs
of the inner primaries are much paler than in the young of L. fuscus, wherein all

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 123

the primaries are of a dark brownish black. As they approach maturity, the two
species can more easily be determined by the appearance of the mantle colouring,
but at this stage the young of L. argentatus have the major coverts brown "marbled"
with greyish white, while in L. fuscus, of approximately the same age, these coverts
are conspicuously barred with greyish buff. The adult dress takes four or five
years for its completion, hence the immature phases cannot be accurately described,
owing to the gradual character of the transformation. The young in down have
the ground-colour somewhat paler buff than the young of L. fuscus, and the dark
spots and bars on the head and neck smaller and more sharply defined, spots
dominating : the markings on the throat are less conspicuous, but there is a more
or less distinct black bar along the fore-arm which is not present in the young of
L. fuscus. In very young nestlings of L. argentatus the markings on the back are
fairly well defined, [w. p. P.]

2. Distribution.— This species is more generally distributed along the
coasts of the British Isles than any other of our breeding gulls, and is found almost
everywhere except where the coast is flat, as in Lincolnshire and East Anglia.
From Kent to Dorset it is the only large species of gull which nests regularly, though
a single instance of the breeding of the lesser blackback in Kent has recently been
recorded. On other parts of our coasts the two species are to be found breeding
side by side, not only on the mainland, but on all the principal islands, including
the Orkneys, Shetlands, Faeroes, and Outer Hebrides. In Ireland it is very common
all round the coast, and one colony exists on a bog in Antrim. On the Continent
it is said to breed on the Berlengas off the coast of Portugal, and also near Vigo,
while it also nests commonly on the coasts of north-west France and the Channel
Isles. Colonies are also to be found in the dunes of Holland and on the west and
North Frisian Isles ; on Sylt especially enormous numbers used to breed. It is
also not uncommon on the Jylland coast and in the Kattegat, and is abundant
on the Norwegian coast to East Finmark. In the Baltic it nests on the Swedish
coasts and by the great lakes ; also on the coast of Finland, Lake Ladoga, the
Russian Baltic provinces, and on the northern shores of Germany. In the Medi-
terranean, and from the Black Sea and N. Russia eastward, and the Atlantic Isles,
it is replaced by the yellow-legged form, L. argentatus cachinnans, but it breeds in
Greenland, Baffin's Bay and Parry Islands, though replaced in other parts of N.
America by L. argentatus smithsonianus. In winter its range extends to the Medi-
terranean basin and the coasts of N. Africa, but many stay with us. American
birds winter in the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies. [F. c. B. J.]

124 THE GULLS

3. Migration. — In winter a considerable amount of wandering takes place,
having a distinct southward tendency, although apparently quite irregular in
character. Our exact knowledge of these movements is practically confined
to what has already been ascertained by the new method of bird-marking. In
the summer of 1909 many hundreds of young herring-gulls were "ringed" on
Memmert (at the south-eastern corner of the North Sea), and seventy-one of these
were recovered during the ensuing winter, mostly from the near neighbourhood of
their birthplace, the farthest record being from a distance of about one hundred and
twenty English miles (cf. Thienemann, Journal fur Ornithologie, 1910, p. 632). But
a different result was obtained from the marking of over a hundred young herring-
gulls at two localities on the Aberdeenshire cliffs in the summer of 1910, as the
following tabular summary of the record shows :—

Sept. 8, 1910 Saltfleet, Lincolnshire.

Sept. 13, 1910 Aberdeen Harbour.

Sept. 1910 Ryhope, Sunderland.

About beginning of Oct. 1910 Tayport, Fifeshire.

Oct. 3, 1910 Hunstanton, Norfolk.

About Oct. 12, 1910 Eden estuary, near St. Andrews.

Nov. 15, 1910 Aberdeen.

About Jan. 30, 1911 Near Manchester.

Two other records may also be quoted here. A herring-gull marked in the same
season at Loch Aan Eilean, the Lewis, Outer Hebrides, was reported from Storno-
way (Lewis) at the beginning of December 1910. And another, a bird in its first
year's plumage, was caught at night near Aberdeen on October 3, 1910, and
recaught on Burray, Orkney, on May 20, 1911 (cf. Thomson, Proc. Roy. Phys.
Soc. Edin., vol. xviii. p. 216 ; and British Birds, vol. v. p. 100). [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — This species is more adaptable in its habits than
some of the gulls : in many districts it breeds in scattered colonies along the
face of precipitous cliffs, but it is equally at home on the grassy tops of low
islands in the West of Scotland, or on shingle-beds, while sometimes it may be
met with breeding on the moors at some considerable distance inland, as in
Northumberland, and in Holland I have seen the nests among low sandhills.
Exceptionally the nest may be seen built on some deserted or ruinous building.
The nest is rather bulky and neatly built, but there is considerable variation in
this respect, some, presumably those of young birds, being very small and care-
lessly constructed. The materials used are chiefly heather twigs, stalks of marine

PLATE XLV

Photo by W. Fi

Common-gull's eggs and nestling

Photo by F. Ileatherlcy

Herring-gull's nest and nestlings

I'hoto by F. B, Kirkuian

Nesting ground of lesser blackbacked-gull (Fame Islands)

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 125

plants, dry seaweed, etc., lined usually with dry grass and an occasional feather,
and both sexes take part in the work of construction. (PI. XLV.) The eggs are
normally two, or more frequently three, in number, but four have been occasionally
found in a nest which had the appearance of a clutch, while in large colonies in-
stances of five and even six eggs in a nest have been recorded by Leverkiihn and
others, but are almost certainly the produce of more than one bird. They vary
a good deal in colour and markings : most eggs range from stone colour to olive-
brown or greenish in ground-colour, but exceptionally they may be found with an
almost white or distinctly blue ground. The markings consist of spots, blotches,
or irregular streaks of dark umber-brown, and light inky purple shell-marks. In
rare cases the markings are almost obsolete. A beautiful and scarce type, which,
however, has not occurred in the British Isles, is the well-known erythristic or red
egg, with sienna-red spots distributed over the surface on a warm whitish ground.
(PL I.) Average size of 104 eggs, 2'7xl'9 in. [69x49 '4 mm.]. Incubation is
performed by both sexes, but chiefly by the hen, the cock-bird mounting guard
close at hand. There is some discrepancy as to the period. An egg hatched
under a hen on the 26th day (W. Evans), and Naumann gives the period as nearly
four weeks, but Mr. Paynter estimates it only as 21 days from observations at
the Fames. The breeding season begins in the last days of April and the first
week of May in Ireland and S. England, and rather later in Scotland ; and though
fresh eggs may be found as late as June and even July, it is probable that only one
brood is normally reared. [F. c. B. J.]

5. Food. — Practically omnivorous. Fish (live and dead), small mammals,
small birds, the young and eggs of larger birds, insects, worms, crustaceans, molluscs,
garbage (floating and other), all form part of its dietary. The young are fed doubt-
less by both parents, but exact information as to the nature of the food given is
lacking. [F. B. K.]

LESSER BLACKS ACKED- GULL [Larus fuscus Linnaeus.
Cob, parson-mew ; saithe-fowl (Shetlands). French, goeland d pieds jaunes ;
German, Herings-Move ; Italian, zafferano].

I. Description. — This gull, when adult, is readily distinguished from the
great blackbacked-gull on the one hand and the herring-gull on the other by its
smaller size and by the slate-grey back and yellow legs and toes. The sexes are
alike, and there is a slight seasonal change of coloration. (PL 105.) Length 22 in.

126 THE GULLS

[558-80 mm.]. The head, neck, lower back and tail, and the whole of the under
parts are of a pure white, while the back and wings are black, relieved by white
tips to the scapulars, secondaries, and primaries. The white tip to the outermost
primary is extremely small, but below this is a large subterminal white spot or
" mirror." By the end of the summer the tips of most if not all the primaries have
been lost by abrasion. The beak is yellow, with a red spot at the gonys of the
mandible ; the rim of the eyelid is vermilion, the iris pale yellow, and the legs and
toes are yellow. After the autumn moult the white of the crown and hind-neck
is marked by ash-brown striations. The juvenile plumage is of a sepia-brown,
dull white margins to the feathers giving a mottled appearance to the upper parts,
save the head and neck, which are obscurely striated, while the under parts are
ash-brown. The beak is of a dark brown colour, the iris dark brown ; there is no
orbital ring, and the legs and toes are brown. It is to be distinguished from the
herring-gull by the conspicuously smaller beak, and the fact that the pale margins
to the feathers are narrow and of uniform width, while the ground colour is much
darker : the marginal pattern of dull white is especially well shown, for the purposes
of comparison on the long inner secondaries. The adult dress is gradually assumed
by a whitening of the under parts, rump, and tail, and the gradual darkening of
the back. But the process of transformation takes about four years to complete.
Hence immature birds cannot be accurately described, owing to the gradual trans-
formation. The black, white-tipped primaries do not appear till the assumption
of the adult dress. The young in down are buffish grey with irregular dusky bars,
and spots on the sides of the head and crown, a long " horse-shoe " on the throat, and
obscure, irregular bands on the back, representing disintegrated stripes, [w. P. P.]
2. Distribution. — In the British Isles this species is less widely distributed
than the herring-gull, for not only is it absent from the flat shores of Lincolnshire
and East Anglia as a breeding species, but, with the exception of a solitary nesting
record from Kent, and a few pairs breeding among the herring-gulls in Hampshire,
it is hardly known to nest along the shores of the English Channel east of Devon.
In Wales there is a colony on a bog ten miles from the sea, and in Cumberland, and
to some extent on the Northumbrian moors also, it is a common breeding species
inland as well as on the coast. There is also a large colony on the Fames, and it
is plentiful up the west coast of Scotland and the Inner Hebrides, but less numerous
on the Atlantic side of the Outer Hebrides and the east coast of the mainland.
Northward it nests in the Shetlands and Orkneys, as well as in the Faeroes. In
Ireland it is much less common than the herring-gull, but has been found breeding

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 127

both on inland lakes and bogs as well as on marine islands. It breeds both on
the Scillies and the Channel Isles. On the Continent it breeds on the western
coasts of France, but it has not been found nesting on the coast of Portugal,
though Lilford and Irby state that a few breed on the rocky island of Alboran,
near Marocco, and a pale form is said to breed on the Azores. It is common
on the Norwegian coast, and also in Sweden and the shores of Finland, but
scarce in the Russian Baltic provinces. In Russia its breeding-range also
includes the Murman coast, the White Sea, Lakes Ladoga and Onega, and the
St. Petersburg government, but further east it is replaced by L. fuscus affinis. In
winter many stay with us, but others range southward to the Mediterranean,
where they visit the N. African coast from Egypt to Marocco, and also occur
on the west side of Africa to the Canaries, Senegal and Bonny. It also visits the
Red Sea and Persian Gulf. [F. c. R. j.]

3. Migration. — A resident and a summer visitor. In autumn a regular
southerly movement takes place, and the northern coasts of our islands are prac-
tically forsaken. That the movement extends beyond the southern limits of our
area is shown by the case of a young bird of this species, marked on the Fame
Islands, Northumberland, in June 1909, being recovered in the early winter of the
same year near Olhao, Portugal (Country Life, November 27, 1909, and December
11, 1909). On our southern coasts the species is found all the year round, although
more generally distributed in winter. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Although occasionally nesting on cliffs and broken
ground, this species shows a decided preference for the vegetation-covered tops of
islands and moors or bogs inland. The nest is much like that of the herring-gull, but
it is not so neatly finished, and is made of similar materials, heather twigs, moss, bits
of seaweed, and dead grasses. (PI. XLV.) Naumann implies that both sexes take part
in providing material. The eggs are normally two, or more usually three, in number,
and clutches of four and five are probably due to two hens laying in one nest.
They vary a good deal in colour, but usually range from light stone colour to deep
olive or umber-brown, with blackish brown spots and blotches and underlying shell-
marks of light inky purple. Greenish tinted eggs are rarely found, and are not
nearly so common as with the herring-gull, but a pale blue variety, with almost
obsolete markings, is sometimes met with. (PI. I.) Average size of 100 eggs,
2-63 x 1-84 in. [66'8 x 46'7 mm.]. They are thus on the average smaller than the
eggs of the herring-gull, but the measurements of the two species overlap. Both
sexes take part in incubation, which, according to Mr. Paynter, lasts for 21 days,

128 THE GULLS

but confirmation is desirable. The breeding season begins about the first week in
May, and, where the nests are much harried, fresh eggs may be found through
May and June, but apparently only one brood is normally reared. [F. c. E. J.]

5. Food. — Omnivorous. Food practically the same as that of the herring-
gull. [F. B. K.]

GREAT BLACKBACKED-GrULL [Larva marinus Linnaeus. Cob,
parson-mew, saddle-back; baagie (Shetlands). French, goeland a manteau
noir ; German, Mantel-Move ; Italian, mignaiaccio].

1. Description. — This gull can be recognised at once from its congeners
by its much greater size, and the dark, slaty black of the back and wing-coverts.
Like the lesser blackbacked-gull, it has a vermilion rim to the eyelid, and, like the
herring-gull, it has flesh-coloured legs and toes. The iris is yellow. The wing,
during flight, shows a white border along both anterior and posterior margins.
The sexes are alike, and there is a slight seasonal change of coloration. (PL 106.)
Length 30 in. [762-00 mm.]. The scapulars and secondaries have conspicuous
white tips : the two outer primaries are peculiar in that the white tips extend
back over a much larger area than in either the lesser blackbacked or herring-
gulls, while the three succeeding feathers have a large white area at the tip crossed
by a subterminal black bar ; the rest of the primaries have white tips. The head,
neck, rump and tail, and under parts are pure white. The juvenile plumage
resembles that of the lesser blackbacked-gull, from which it can always be dis-
tinguished by its much larger size. The adult plumage takes about four years to
develop, and follows a course exactly similar to that of the lesser blackbacked
and the herring-gull. The black mantle begins to make its appearance at the end
of the second year ; later, the white tips begin to appear in the primaries, and the
black terminal portion of the tail becomes "invaded" by white. Probably the
fully adult dress is not attained till the end of the fifth year, but precise informa-
tion on this point is still wanting. The downy young are ash-grey above, mottled
with blackish brown spots and bars, which are most conspicuous on the head and
neck ; the under parts are white, [w. p. P.]

2. Distribution. — As a breeding species this fine bird is entirely absent
from the east of England, while only a few pairs breed in Dorset, Devon, the Scillies
and Lundy Island. In Wales, also, many of its former breeding-places on islets
in lakes are now deserted, but some still nest on the mainland and in Anglesey,
and this is also the case in the Lake district in one locality. In Scotland, however,

PLATE XLVI

Photo by C. J.

Great blackbacked-grulls and nest (Scilly Isles)

Photo by C. J. King •_ , ,'

Casting's of the great blackbacked-gull : t-wo shearwater's heads (upper) : puffin's head (

of feathers (Scilly Isles). (See p. 167.)

Tyery an'd twb'Ualis'

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 129

it becomes more numerous, and not only do single pairs nest on the islands and
cliff-tops, but in some cases colonies of twenty or more pairs may be found breeding
together on the top of some lofty stack, especially in the Outer Hebrides, where,
as well as in St. Kilda, the Orkneys and Shetlands, it is locally common. It is
resident in small numbers on the Irish coasts, breeding on the tops of the stacks,
especially in the west, and there is one very large colony of at least 100 pairs
off the coast of Mayo. A few nests have also recently been recorded on islands
in lakes inland (British Birds, v. p. 139, etc.). Outside the British Isles it breeds
in the Faeroes and Iceland, while on the Continent a few nest in the north-west
of France, but there is no other known breeding-place nearer than the coasts of
Norway and Sweden, and on the inland lakes of Sweden, as well as on Gotland,
the Russian Baltic provinces and the south-west of Finland. In North Russia it
nests on the Kola Peninsula, the White Sea, the Kanin Peninsula, Kolguev,
and the Petchora delta. In N. America it breeds in Greenland to lat. 68°, and
also in Labrador and the New England coast. The winter range extends to the
Canaries and Azores, as well as to the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas,
while on the American side it visits Bermuda and Florida. [F. c. B. J.]

3. Migration. — Resident. In winter the species becomes more generally
distributed, and there is some evidence of a regular migration with a southerly
trend. Nothing more definite is known. [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — The site of the nest is generally chosen with a view
to safety, and when found singly is often placed on some small islet in a loch, or
on the top of some isolated rock. Other species of gull are kept at a respectful
distance, but it does not object to the society of its own kind, and on the tops of
some of the more inaccessible stacks in Scotland and Ireland large numbers may
be found breeding close to one another. Thus on the Lyra Skerry in the Shetlands
about twenty-seven pairs breed together, but the numbers in this colony are far
eclipsed by those in the Irish colony referred to above. The nest resembles that of
the herring-gull and lesser blackback in appearance, being built of heather twigs,
seaweed, but more especially grasses torn up by the roots, thrift, etc. (PL XLVI.)
The eggs vary from two to three in number,1 and normally range from pale stone
colour to brownish in ground-colour, boldly blotched with umber-brown and
different shades of ashy grey. Compared with eggs of the herring and lesser
blackbacked-gulls, they show much more of the ground-colour on an average, and
are more boldly marked, while a variety with bluish ground and very sparingly

1 H. J. Pearson once found five eggs in a nest in Norway.
VOL. III. R

130 THE GULLS

marked, or with only one or two bold blotches, is not uncommon. The erythristic
type described under the head of herring-gull also occurs in this species, but not
in the British Isles, and Dr. Ottosson records a melanistic variety of the egg.
(PI. J.) Average size of 50 eggs, 3'04 x 2-13 in. [77'4 x 54*1 mm.]. Both sexes
take part in incubation, and the period is given by Faber as 28 days. The
breeding season in the British Isles seems to be rather irregular : as a rule the first
eggs are found early in May, but Mr. J. J. Dalgleish records a clutch on April 19
near Ardnamurchan, and many pairs do not lay apparently till the second or third
week in May. Only one brood is reared in the season, but second layings may be
found in June. [F. c. R. J.]

5. Food. — The species is omnivorous. Its food is practically the same as that
of the herring-gull, except that its greater strength enables it to prey upon larger
mammals and birds. (See for details p. 167; also Plate XLVI.) According to
Saunders, it will attack sickly ewes and weak lambs, and it makes short work of
wounded ducks and game-birds. The young are fed by both parents, but details
of the nature of the food given are lacking. Prom a young bird in down an eel
18 inches long was extracted ! (British Birds, v. p. 88.) [F. B. K.]

GLAUCOUS- GULL [Lartis glaucus Briinnich ; Larus glaucus Fabricius.
Burgomaster, Iceland scorie (Shetlands) ; Great white-winged gull (Devon).
French, goeland bourguemestre ; German, Eis-Move ; Italian, gabbiano glauco].

i. Description. — This species recalls the herring-gull, but may at once be dis-
tinguished therefrom, when adult, by the entire absence of black on the primaries.
The sexes are alike, and there is no marked seasonal change of coloration. (PI. 107.)
Length 29 in. [736-60 mm.]. The mantle and wings are of a delicate pearl-grey ;
the primaries pale grey fading into white at the terminal third ; the rest of the
plumage is pure white. The beak is yellow, with a patch of orange on the angle
of the lower jaw ; the rim of the eyelid is vermilion, the iris yellow, and the legs and
toes are bright pink. The j uvenile plumage is of a pale huffish ash, but the mantle and
wings are of a rich cream colour, relieved by loops of dark greyish buff. The greater
wing-coverts and quills are of a huffish ash ; the tail cream colour, with darker
irregular transverse bars. Immature birds have the head, neck, and interscapulars
dull white, with pale brownish ash striations. The scapulars and wing-coverts
cream colour, with broad submarginal loops of pale brownish ash. The secondaries
are tipped with white, and mottled subterminally with pale brown, the rest of

PKELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 131

the feathers being faintly mottled with brownish ash. The primaries are of a
dull creamy white, with a greyish tinge, the innermost tipped with white, and with
subterminal arrowheaded markings of brownish ash. Tail dull white, heavily
marbled with pale brownish ash. As the bird nears maturity the markings
disappear and the cream colour fades to white, so that in fourth year birds the
whole plumage is for a short time pure white. Birds in this stage were regarded
as representing a distinct species, — Larus hutchinsi. The young in down has the
head dull white, with dusky spots on the crown, and lines and spots of the
same hue on the sides of the head. The rest of the upper parts are pale ashy
brown, with obscure lines of darker brown along the back and on the elbow ;
under parts white, [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — This is a circumpolar species, breeding in the high north of
both Old and New Worlds. Its nearest breeding-places to our shores are Iceland,
Jan Mayen, Spitzbergen, Franz-Josef Land, the Murman coast, Kanin Peninsula,
Kolguev, Petchora delta, Waigatz, and Novaya Zemlya. In Asia it breeds along
the north of Siberia, and on the New Siberia Islands eastward to Tchukchi-land.
In the Western Hemisphere it breeds commonly in Greenland, and sparingly along
the coast of Labrador south to Newfoundland, as well as on the shores of Hudson's
Bay and the Nearctic Archipelago, but in Bering Sea and Alaska it is replaced by the
Point Barrow or western glaucous-gull, L. barrovianus Bidgway. Its winter range
normally extends to the northern part of our islands, but exceptionally it ranges
south to the Straits of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean and Black Seas in Europe, and
the Caspian and Japanese Seas in Asia, while in N. America it has been recorded
in winter from Florida, Texas, and the Mississippi valley, and on the Pacific side
from California. [F. c. R. J.]

3. Migration. — A winter visitor. It is of regular occurrence on our northern
shores, but always rare in Ireland and on the south and west of England. In severe
winters it is more abundant; a notable season was that of 1871-72 (cf. Harvie-Brown,
Fauna of Tay Basin and Strathmore, p. 339). Occasional examples remain in
Shetland till June, but do not breed there. Over fifty have been seen together in
Orkney in December (cf. Annals Scot. Nat. Hist., 1902, p. 197). [A. L. x.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Does not breed in the British Islands. [F. c. B. J.]

5. Food. — The species, like its congeners, is omnivorous (see p. 125).
[F. B. K.]

132 THE GULLS

ICELAND-GULL [Larus leitcopterus Faber. French, go'dand leucoptere ;
German, Polar-M&ve].

1. Description. — The Iceland-gull is to be regarded as a miniature of the
glaucous-gull, but has relatively longer wings. It is to be distinguished from it
at all stages of growth by its greatly inferior size and the coloration of the orbital
ring and legs and toes, which are flesh-coloured. (PL 105.) Length 22 in. [558-80
mm.]. The beak is yellow with a red spot at the angle or gonys. [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — The breeding-range of this gull includes Jan Mayen
Island, Greenland, where it is common, and Arctic America. Dresser gives the
following localities : Felix Harbour, Boothia (Ross), Melville Island, Franklin Bay
(MacFarlane), Mackenzie Bay (Reed) and Cambridge Bay, Victoria Land (Collin-
son), and also on the Yukon (Nelson). Saunders, however, thinks that all records
from the North Pacific and Bering Sea refer to the glaucous-gull. It is said also
to have bred on Novaya Zemlya. (See p. 182.) Its winter range includes Iceland,
the northern seas of the British Isles, and the North Sea, while occasionally it
strays to the Baltic and the coasts of western France, and has once been recorded
from the Adriatic. In North America it has been recorded regularly on Lake
Michigan, and casually at Boston (42^- °), Nebraska, and Maryland. [F. o. B. J.]

3. Migration. — A winter visitor of tolerably regular occurrence on the
Scottish coasts, but less frequent on the southern and western shores of the British
Isles. The numbers that visit us are rather variable : winters in which the
birds have been unusually numerous in one part or another are 1872-73, 1874-75,
and 1891-92. Most of the visitors are usually immature birds. An Iceland-gull
has been recorded from Yorkshire as late as April 18 (cf. Saunders, III. Man. B. B.,
2nd ed., 1899, p. 681). [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Does not breed in the British Isles. [F. c. R. J.]

5. Food. — Principally fish, live or dead, according to Naumann (Vogel
Mitteleuropas, xi. 278). It appears, however, to be, like its congeners, practically
omnivorous (Saxby, Birds of Shetland, p. 337; Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 444).
[F. B. K.]

KIT T I WAKE [Rissa tridactyla (Linnaeus). Sprat-mew (Kent), hacket, hack-
let (Devon), kittick (Orkneys), waeg (Shetlands), tarrock (juv.). French,
mouette tridactyle ; German, Dreizehen-Move ; Italian, gabbiano terragnola].

i. Description. — In the kittiwake the hind-toe is either vestigial or absent,
whereby it is distinguished from all other gulls. It may at once be distinguished

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 133

from the common-gull, with which alone it could be confounded in the field, by
the absence of the white " mirror " on the tips of the outermost primaries. When
expanded in flight the wing has a conspicuous black triangular tip. The sexes
are alike, and there is a fairly well-marked seasonal change of coloration. (PI. 108.)
Length 16 in. [40640 mm.]. The mantle and wings are of deep bluish slate, the
blue extending far up the primaries, save the outermost, which is black along the
outer web and for about two inches at the tip : the fourth and fifth quills have
white tips and a subterminal band of black, the rest grey : the lower back and
tail, like the head, neck, and under parts, are pure white, and the scapulars and
secondaries are tipped with white. In winter the occiput is washed with grey,
and there is a faint patch of grey in front of the eye and behind the ear-coverts.
The orbital rim is red. The beak is greenish yellow with a tinge of red at the base,
the inside of the mouth a deep orange-red, the legs and toes black, and the iris
is brown. The fledgling and immature birds have a more or less complete band
of black or greyish black across the nape, a second broad band across the back of
the base of the neck, and black or greyish black marginal and minor coverts,
forming a broad band across the outstretched wing. The tail has a broad ter-
minal band of black, and the coverts of the primaries are black : the four outer-
most primaries are also of a dull slaty black, thereby again differing from those of
the adult. The beak and legs are greyish to black, and the iris is dark brown.
The nestling in down has the head white, tinged with grey, the back ash-grey,
with very faint traces of darker mottlings, and the under parts white, [w. p. p.]

2. Distribution. — In England the kittiwake is very local as a breeding
species ; it is confined to Lundy Island, the coasts of Wales and its adjoining
islands, including Anglesey, the Isle of Man, and, on the east side, the Yorkshire
cliffs and the Fame Islands. It used to breed in the Scillies, but has not done
so since 1900 (Zoologist, 1896, p. 344). x In Scotland it is more widely distributed,
and colonies are found on the east side at St. Abb's Head, the Bass, the Isle
of May, and in Kincardine and Aberdeen, as well as in small numbers on the
coast of the Moray area. On the west side it is chiefly confined to the islands,
where there are innumerable colonies on the Inner and Outer Hebrides, that
on the Shiants being probably the largest in our islands. On the northern
coast, the Orkneys and Shetlands, it is also very numerous. In Ireland, though
very plentiful, it is decidedly local as a breeding species, resorting only to pre-
cipitous cliffs and islands. On the east side it only nests on the islands off the
1 Possibly a few pairs still breed in Cornwall near the Land's End.

134 THE GULLS

Co. Dublin coast, but enormous colonies are to be found in Antrim, Donegal, and
thence southward to the islands off the Kerry coast. Outside the British Isles
this species breeds in great numbers on the Faeroes, Iceland, Jan Mayen Island,
Franz-Josef Land, Spitzbergen, and Novaya Zemlya, while on the Continent it is
said to nest in Brittany, and many colonies exist along the Norwegian coast,
especially in the extreme north, and eastward to the Murman coast, and at one or
two localities off North Siberia. On the American side it breeds in Greenland and
on the coasts of N. America south to the St. Lawrence, but is replaced on the
Pacific coast by an allied race. In winter it ranges south to the Canaries, Azores,
and Madeira, and has even been recorded from the Cape Verde group and Senegal,
as well as from the Mediterranean : while on the American side it migrates to the
Great Lakes and the middle Atlantic States, and has occurred in the Bermudas.
[F. c. E. J.]

3. Migration. — Resident within our area as a whole, but seasonally absent
from various parts. To the south of England it is a winter visitor, but at that
season it is scarcely known on many parts of the Irish coasts (cf. Ussher and
Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 346). There appears to be a regular southward
movement in autumn with a return journey in March (cf. Ussher and Warren,
loc. cit.; etc.), but to what extent these movements may extend beyond our area,
both to north and to south, it is impossible to say. In winter the species often
congregates in huge flocks (cf. Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 691). [A. L. T.]

4. Nest and Eggs. — Generally this species breeds in colonies, sometimes
of enormous extent, and always on precipitous cliffs or in the roofs of sea-caves.
Almost any little ledge is sufficient to support the nest, which is sometimes only
a few feet above the sea, and at other times some hundreds of feet higher. In the
great mixed colonies of rock-birds on the British coasts, the Kittiwakes generally
occupy the lowest sites, but some of the bird-rocks within the Arctic Circle are
occupied almost exclusively by this species from top to bottom. The nest is built
chiefly of seaweed and mud, but grasses, moss, and other plants are also used,
chiefly for the lining, and both sexes take part in building (see p. 188). (PI. XLIV.)
The eggs vary from two to three in number : in some colonies clutches of two are
general, while in others three are quite common. The ground-colour is rather
light as a rule, and varies from greyish white to olive-buff, while the markings
consist of blotches of brown and ashy shell-marks, sometimes forming a zone.
(PL J.) Average measurements of 100 eggs, 2-21 x 1-6 in. [56-3 x 40-8 mm.].
Both sexes brood in turn, and, in Iceland, Hantzsch noted that the female incu-

PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 135

bated chiefly by day and the male by night, changing places about 9 P.M. The
kittiwake is a late breeder, and few eggs are laid before the end of May or early in
June in the British Isles. Hantzsch estimates the incubation period at 21-24
days, and Naumann at three weeks, but an egg placed in an incubator hatched
on the 26th day (W. Evans). Only a single brood is reared during the season.
[F. c. B. j.]

5. Food. — Principally small fish and their ova, also surface crustaceans
(cf. Collett and Nansen, N. Polar Expedition Scientific Results, 1900, vol. i. pp. 26, 47 ;
and Collett, Bird Life in Arctic Norway). Saxby found fresh-water algae and some
beetles in the stomachs of specimens he shot (Birds of Shetland, p. 330). The
young are fed on crustaceans and small fish (Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi.
290) by both parents, [p. B. K.]

The following species and subspecies are described in the supplementary chapter
on "Rare Birds": —

Sabine's Gull, Xema sabini (Sabine).

Rosy or wedgetailed-gull, Rhodostethia rosea (Macgillivray).

Bonaparte's gull, Larus Philadelphia Ord.

Adriatic gull, Larus melanocephalus Temminck.

Great blackheaded-gull, Larus ichthydetus Pallas.

Yellow-legged or Mediterranean herring-gull Larus argentatus cachinnans,

PaUas.
Ivory gull, Pagophila eburnea (Phipps). [F. c. B. J.]

136 THE GULLS

THE BLACKHEADED-GULL
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

With the exception of the kittiwake, and three rare species that
have been recorded as visiting our shores half a dozen times or less,
the British gulls all belong to the genus Larus. It contains both the
largest, the glaucous and great blackbacked, and the smallest, the
little-gull. Between these, the better known species arrange them-
selves, according to a descending scale of size, as follows : — the herring,
Iceland, lesser blackbacked, common, and, finally, the blackheaded,
the most widely known of all, and the subject of the present
chapter.

Strictly speaking, the name of the species should be "brown-
headed," for brown is the colour of its hood. The misnomer, no
doubt, owes its origin to the fact that, seen at a distance, the hood
has the appearance of being black. Less excusable is the scientific
name ridibundus, bestowed upon the species by Linnaeus. I have
never heard anything in the notes it utters to justify the appellation,
which might far more appropriately have been applied to some of
the larger gulls, the lesser blackbacked, for instance, whose loud
emphatic ha! ha! ha ! could not be described otherwise than as a
laugh. Custom, in this case, is likely to prove stronger than fact,
and I have no doubt that ridibundus and "blackheaded" the species
' 11 remain.

The brown hood is assumed for the breeding season only ;
from about June to the end of January or early in February the head
is white, except for a brown patch or two.1 It has been stated that
the change from the white to the brown is effected by the entrance

1 Several lose the brown hood as early as the middle of June (F. Heatherley, in litt.).

Plate 1O3

Blackheaded-gulls following the plough

By A. W. Seaby

THE BLACKHEADED-GULL 137

of fresh pigment into the feathers.1 As long ago, however, as 1866,
Mr. H. Blake Knox pointed out in the Zoologist 2 that the change is
by moult, and that the new brown feathers sprout up from under the
white and displace them. He limited the spring moult to the head.
Dr. P. H. Bahr has since shown that it extends to the breast and
back as well.3

Soon after it assumes the brown hood, the blackhead moves
towards its summer quarters. Before actually settling on the nesting-
ground, it appears to frequent the fields in the neighbourhood for
three or more weeks. At Scoulton, in Norfolk, where the birds are
"preserved" for the sake of their eggs, and are therefore carefully
watched, I was told that the first arrivals do not alight on the
nesting-ground till March 17th-20th, but they are seen in numbers
in the surrounding country as early as mid-February. Their habits
at this period have yet to be closely studied, and should prove full
of interest, for it is then, no doubt, that they pair off for the
season.

The breeding-places, for the most part, may be classed under
one or other of two types. The first may be called the marsh or lake
colony. That at Scoulton is an example. Here the nests are built
on swampy ground, from which the reeds have been cut, at one
end of the large island in the lake. Elsewhere they are built among
the water-plants growing on the margin of lakes, and also on tussocks
rising from lake or swamp. In the Danube delta Mr. Jourdain found
nests floating on water five feet deep, with no support except that
occasionally provided by a water-lily leaf or stalk. These colonies are
found both inland, and, as at Dungeness, near the sea. They form a
remarkable contrast to the second and less usual type, of which
Ravenglass and Walney are good examples. At these two places
the birds nest in thousands, chiefly on the ridges and sides of arid,
sun-scorched sandhills above the beach, sometimes hundreds of yards

1 Yarrell, History of British Birds, iii. 603. 2 1866, p. 361.

3 British Birds (periodical), iii. 105, where a careful and detailed account of the spring moult
is given and illustrated.

VOL. III. S

138 THE GULLS

from the water. Among very unusual breeding-places may be men-
tioned that at Twigmoor in Lincolnshire,1 where several pairs build
nests of considerable size in fir-trees, though suitable sites of the
ordinary type are available near by. It seems as if here the change
of nest-place from ground to tree was the result of individual
eccentricity.

New gulleries are not infrequently found, and old ones sometimes
deserted. Mr. H. E. Forrest records an instance of a gullery at an
unpronounceable place, Llyn Mynyddlod, near Bala, which commenced
with two pairs in 1888. In 1889 there were ten, and in 1890 over
twenty nests. In 1904 the colony numbered about two thousand.
Another colony by a small tarn in Denbighshire began similarly
with two pairs in 1900, increased to four or five pairs in 1902, and
numbered some sixty birds in 1904.2 The first pairs were perhaps
emigrants from an overcrowded colony. Such overcrowding does
appear to occur,3 and no doubt, at the beginning of the season, leads
to much fighting. On this point information is required. The
earliest date on which I have personally watched the species was
April 6, 1911, at Scoulton, about a week before the first nests were
built. The pairs were then evidently in possession of nesting-sites.
One, presumably the female, remained on the spot, or near it, the
whole day, while the male went far afield for food, which he brought
to his mate, departing again shortly afterwards as a rule. Though the
birds were aggressive, and there was occasional fighting, I did not
notice any very strict insistence on proprietary rights. A bird would
often drive away another alighting near it, but in so doing it would,
instead of returning, sometimes alight near other pairs, and remain
unmolested. Again, birds would rise from their own places and
either immediately, or after a short flight over the gullery, alight in
another part of it, and, likewise, remain unmolested. This occurred
also in the evening, when the number of the birds was trebled by the

1 See " Classified Notes." 2 Fauna of North Wales, p. 379.

3 Cf. Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 320 ; British Birds (magazine), iv. 223.

THE BLACKHEADED-GULL 139

presence not only of the foraging males, but of a large number of
immature birds born in the previous summer, and easily identified
by the flecks on the wing, the black rim to the tail, and the absence
of a brown hood.1 These came each evening to roost, and departed
in the morning. They distributed themselves all over the gullery,
possibly returning each to its birthplace.

The number of the non-breeding gulls is not limited to these
immature birds, but to what extent, if at all, non-breeding adults
are to be found on the breeding-ground itself I do not know. Some
are to be seen on the coast throughout the summer.2 The most
remarkable example is provided by a bird which spent the whole
summer by itself on the South Walsham Broad, in Norfolk, where
its solitary white figure was a striking object seen flying amid the
deep green foliage round the lake.

The gulls that pair have, like other species, a love-display. This
I saw at Ravenglass on May 16, when the eggs were already hatching.
The performance took place away from the breeding-ground on the
mud-flats in front of the village. One of the pair, which I judged
from her more restrained demeanour to be the female, kept her beak
bent vertically downward. Otherwise her attitude did not depart
from the usual. Her mate had his beak bent downward, his tail
fanned and somewhat deflected, his wings hanging, and his plumage
puffed out. He presented a very queer object indeed. Like the
female, he kept moving about with precise and formal little steps.
Both held themselves stiffly, and looked as if they were performing a
ritual. I did not see them face each other ; they walked one after
the other bowing, and sometimes the cock turned round so that they
bowed in opposite directions. The performance was accompanied by
a loud discordant note, uttered by one or possibly both. It was
continued for several minutes.

1 At Scoulton I saw none of these immature birds with a brown hood except one, which
had, however, the forehead white. At Ravenglass in mid-May (16th to 21st) there were a few
abont the gullery in the daytime. These had the hood more or less brown. One of them was
actually sitting on eggs, but it was the only one I saw thus engaged.

2 Nelson, Birds of Yorkshire, p. 070.

140 THE GULLS

Two days afterwards I saw a pair near their nest advance side by
side, wings half spread, beaks deflected, heads thrown somewhat back,
but tail not fanned. At intervals they bowed till the tip of the bill
touched or almost touched the ground. They then quickly resumed
their normal attitudes. The spirit seemed suddenly to move them,
and as suddenly to depart from them.

This display may, for all I know, be frequent in the early part of
the season (February to March), but during the period that I have
watched the species, namely from the beginning of April to the
middle of July, I have only seen it performed on the above occasions,
though I have been in or near the breeding-ground for days and
hours at a time.1 The same applies to the cosseting or preening
of one bird by another, but throughout the breeding season from
April to June, and no doubt to some extent in July, the species
is in the habit of performing certain actions which are partly
expressive of love or affection, and partly of other emotions. These
may properly be classed under the head of the language of gesture.
Each has a meaning or meanings as intelligible — to me, indeed, often
more intelligible than that intended to be conveyed by the sounds
the birds utter. There are at least three of these gestures clearly
distinguishable, but any two may follow so closely one upon the other
as to be continuous.

The first is as follows. The bird, standing, or moving forward
towards another bird, suddenly lowers and retracts the neck, so that
it, and sometimes also the beak, point forward. Usually, how-
ever, the head and beak are tilted upwards, sometimes almost
straight upwards. The wings are kept closed, or partly opened
and hanging, or spread so as to form with the back a broad flat
expanse. The whole attitude of the bird, in particular the upward
tilt of the beak, gives it an air of aggressive truculence calculated to
be highly offensive to the party approached. When the attitude is

1 The dates of my visits to colonies of blackheads are as follows -.—Scoulton, April 6-13, 1911 ;
Ravenglaaa, May 16-21, 1910, May 19-24, 1909; Dungeneas, June 5-12, 1908; Rarenglass, June
14-17, 1909 ; Walney, June 16-July 13, 1905 ; Dungeneas, July 7-14, 1907.

THE BLACKHEADED-GULL 141

assumed as the bird is swimming on the water, the neck lies flat
along the surface, the beak being tilted up as above described. It is
in some cases difficult to attach any precise meaning to this gesture.
I have, for instance, seen it made by a bird when alone. There can be
no doubt, however, that as a rule it is intended to be a menace, for it
is frequently followed either by the prompt departure of the bird
approached or by a scuffle. It is made by other species of Gull. Mr.
Hudson notes it in the case of the glaucous-gull, and compares it to
the snarl of a dog.1 It might perhaps even more fitly be compared
to a display of fangs. As in the case of dogs, it is not always meant to
be taken seriously. It is not even always meant to mark hostility.
I have seen it made by one of a pair, the male, and followed by
anything but bellicose proceedings. This may possibly be explained
by the fact that the love of male for female has in it an undoubted
element of aggressiveness, one might almost say ferocity.

In the second posture the neck is held erect, and the beak
usually bent downward and sometimes to one side. The crown
feathers are more or less erected, probably as an effect of the down-
ward inclination of the beak and backward poise of the head, while
the wings are usually held part open and away from the body, the so-
called shoulders (wrists) projecting. The general appearance is that
of lofty disdain, but this may not, and, in fact, certainly does not in
most cases represent the feelings of the bird. The attitude resembles
that assumed by the male in the love-display above described. On
both the two occasions on which I have exact records of its being
used independently of the other two " gestures," it appeared to be a
form of greeting or affection. In one of these cases, one of a pair,
which I took to be the female, was building her nest. Her mate,
who had previously been standing near by, was taking a flight round
the gullery. Suddenly I saw the female strike the erect posture and
also bow. She had evidently recognised her mate in the general crowd
of flying birds, for next instant he alighted. My recollection, aided by

1 Land's End, p. 23.

142 THE GULLS

a somewhat unsatisfactorily worded record in my notebook, is that
the erect attitude was assumed independently on other occasions,
but in all the remaining fourteen instances which I took the trouble
to record exactly at the time of observation, it accompanied the first
" gesture " twelve times, and that next to be described once. In the
fourteenth instance all the three movements occurred together.

On five of the occasions on which it accompanied the first
"gesture," the combined movement was intended to be hostile. In
one of these cases a bird, which was swimming on the water, first laid
its neck flat on the surface, and tilted up the beak, then shot the
neck up, deflected the beak, and part spread the wings. It thus
approached another bird, and on nearing it, again lowered the neck,
tilted up a beak of derision, and finally made a rush and a vicious
lunge, which the menaced party lost no time in avoiding. This attack
seemed to be entirely unprovoked, and had the appearance of being
merely an outlet for exuberant spirits. On the remaining occasions
on which the second or erect accompanied the first or neck-forward-
and-beak-up movement, there was no appearance of pugnacity. On
two of these occasions the attitudes were struck by birds that were
standing by themselves. In the other cases, two or three birds would
perform one or other or both of the movements, then merely desist
and look about as if nothing had occurred. I have described this set
of movements in some detail, because it illustrates the difficulty of
interpreting the avian language of gesture, and also suggests that the
avian mind is a more complex organ than is generally supposed.

The third attitude is the only one with pretensions to beauty. In
its complete form the bird raises the white and grey wings and waves
them, spreads the tail into a white fan, and bending down the head,
almost, but not quite, touches the ground with the tip of the bill.1
The tail is not invariably spread or the wings raised, or, when raised,
waved. The attitude is much like that of the birds when they are

1 It may, of course, at times touch the ground, but on the one occasion on which I saw the
position of the beak quite clearly, it did not.

THE BLACKHEADED-GULL 143

pulling up water-plants for their nests. It usually either follows or
precedes an attack on another bird, and did so on all the occasions
on which I recorded it as occurring by itself. This was in April.
Once in April and once in June I saw it used conjointly with the
second or erect attitude. In the first case a pair stood side by side
with the beaks nearly touching the ground, and then suddenly and
simultaneously raised their necks and deflected their beaks. In the
next, a pair began with the neck-forward-and-beak-up movement,
passed to the erect posture, and one ended with the third or beak-
to-ground posture. In neither case was any hostility apparent. In
no case except this did I see the third movement used with the first.
As it usually precedes or follows an attack, it might be thought that,
like the first, it is a manifestation of pugnacity. But there is nothing
in it of the direct menace conveyed by the aggressive forward inclina-
tion of the neck and the insolent uptilted beak. Its real significance
has yet to be ascertained. It is worth adding that, though I watched
carefully, I did not see either this gesture or the other two performed
by any of the immature birds which crowded into the Scoulton gullery
in the evening.

It must not be supposed that an attack by one gull upon another
is necessarily accompanied by gestures. In most cases, when a bird
has made up its mind to drive home the assault, it does so without
preliminaries. If the offender thinks it worth while to resist, both
birds either rise in the air fluttering, in which case I have not observed
that anything results but noise, or they scuffle and sprawl on the ground.
In the latter case there is little to be seen but a confusion of white wings.
On the only occasion on which I had a clear view, one of the com-
batants seized the other by the bill, and they continued to tug and
tumble for a few seconds till they had had enough. These squabbles
seemed to arise from the proximity of one bird to the nest of another.
Quite distinct from them are the more or less mock combats in the air,
marked chiefly by pretty upward sweeps and curves, the wings out-
spread and motionless, or nearly so, red legs dangling, red mouth wide

144 THE GULLS

open and vociferous, followed by downward swoops. Distinct again
are the assaults of flying birds upon sitting. The best time for watching
these is during the periodical simultaneous flights that a number of
birds in a colony or part of a colony will make when recently disturbed.
The upflight from the ground is comparatively silent. Even when
not looking at the part of the gullery in which the upflight occurs,
one knows it is taking place by the sudden hush. No sooner do the
birds halt in mid-air than the noise again begins, and it goes on
increasing on the down-flight till it reaches a climax at the moment
that precedes alighting. Then there is a wild confusion of white
fluttering wings, of red legs flashing in the sun, and from the red wide
open beaks there issues a fast and furious storm of screams. It is at
this moment that sitting birds have to be on their guard ; they often
sit, with neck and head upstretched and beak wide open, to defend
themselves from a playful dig in the back from their over-excited
mates or comrades in the air.

In the universal incessant chorus of disapproval that descends
upon the intruder into a colony of blackheads, it is no easy task to
distinguish the different notes that are uttered, especially when
allowance is made for distance and differences in pitch. One note,
however, it is possible to study in its most intimate details, and that
is the harsh screech that ends the swoop of the angry gulls near
whose nest one happens to be. It is uttered at the moment when
the bird, instead of dashing itself upon the object of its wrath, as it
seems about to do, suddenly checks its flight and swerves away to
mount and repeat the attack. It is repeated again and again till the
victim is heartily glad to beat a retreat. It provides the strong notes
in the gull orchestra, and may be variously syllabled as a strident
qwerrr, qworrr, or qwarrrr. During the descent to the attack the bird
utters a rapid tt, U, trrr, tt, tt, trrr. This note forms a background
of sound in the general chorus. A third note is a curious ttuk, or
ttup ! which may be uttered as a single sound, or repeated, sometimes
slowly, sometimes rapidly. When rapid, it seems to merge into the

THE BLACKHEADED-GULL 145

U, tt, trrr, but of this I am not certain. It is often interspersed with
qwarrr sound, and appears to be a general note of alarm, possibly a
call-note. It may be heard punctuating the general chorus. It is
probably this note that is supposed to resemble a laugh. Another
note familiar to those who have watched blackheads in winter,
whether from the Thames Embankment or on the coast, is a petulant
little infantile scream, uttered usually when the birds are bickering.
I have never heard it on the breeding-ground.

The boldness of the blackheads when they have eggs or young is
in strong contrast to their shyness at the beginning of the season,
when an incautious approach to the gullery will send them off into
the air for an hour or more. Such at least was my experience at
Scoulton early in April (1911). At this period the hens, for such I
supposed them to be, were, as already noted, in occupation of the
sites of their future nests, and there they appeared to remain
throughout the day, waiting apparently for the first impulses of the
nest-building instinct. The cocks busied themselves in searching
for food in the neighbouring fields. As they often went several
miles for this, there is nothing astonishing in the fact that they did
not, after the manner of Thrushes, bring back a mere beakful of
worms or insects. They brought back a large supply, and carried it
inside. On reaching the gullery they alighted near their mates, and
after some persuasive cosseting of the neck and beak, were induced
to disburden. Most of the meal was pecked up from the ground by
the hen, but the cock often fed with her side by side.

According to Naumann, the nest is built by both sexes. At
Scoulton I had time to see only two instances of nest-building, the
earliest (April 12-13). In both cases the work was done by one bird,
presumably the hen. In the first instance the male was absent, in
the second he was present, but took no interest in the proceedings.
As the cock is absent most of the time in the fields, it is difficult to
believe that he can take much part in building, if he takes any. The
process of building was simple. The hen pulled water-plants, carried

VOL. III. T

146 THE GULLS

them to the nest-spot, dropped them, and occasionally sat down upon
them and worked them into shape.

The material of the nest varies of course with the surroundings.
Among the sandhills of Ravenglass and Walney they are mostly made
of marram grass, and are of all sizes. The largest nest I have ever
seen was at Ravenglass. It was made of the rough dry stalks of some
large plant, to which was added a lining of marram grass. It was
nearly two feet high, and the material would have filled two buckets.
(PL XLIV.) Large structures made of water-plants are also found
in marsh or lake colonies.

The species seems able to modify very readily its nest-building
habits. At Dungeness, for instance, in 1908, a few pairs, apparently
unable to find place for their nests in the main colony among the
reeds, built them on dry ground near by, and, instead of water-
plants, used moss, lichen, dry grass and twigs, and were content with
much smaller nests than those of their fellows.

Laying begins in April, the time varying with season and latitude.
Incubation is said to commence after the first egg is laid.1 Both
sexes share in the task. On one occasion I saw a bird alight and
push its mate off the nest with its breast, so eager was it to settle on
the eggs. Dr. F. Heath erley informs me that he saw pairs change
places every half-hour. This happened many times and with great
regularity.

The chicks are hatched on successive days.1 They are pretty
little down-covered creatures, and are soon able to move about. They
quit the nest when alarmed, and, in the sandhill colonies of Raven-
glass and Walney, conceal themselves in the marram grass. I have seen
one led back to the nest by the parent bird, who achieved her purpose
by calling to it and making snuggling movements with her breast.
They return also of their own accord. I have had no opportunity of
watching their behaviour in a marsh colony, except to note that they
were swimming when about a week old. Dr. F. Heatherley informs

1 British Birds (Mag.), iv. 141 (E. B. Dunjop).

THE BLACKHEADED-GULL 147

me he has seen them at Llandegla, N. Wales, climb of their own
accord in and out of the nests into the water. On being alarmed
they usually left the nests, and hid in their foundations. According
to Dr. P. H. Bahr,1 the instinct of the chicks, when four to five days
old, is to take to the water on the approach of danger, often with fatal
results, for some are snapped up by the larger species of Gull, and
others, when they become soaked with water, develop a curious sort
of cramp from which they do not recover. Mr. H. A. Macpherson,
on the other hand, observed that though the chicks are able to swim
strongly at an early age, they rarely attempt to escape capture by
taking to the water, but usually run to the bank and hide in the
sedges or rushes.2 This apparent contradiction is no doubt to be
explained by some difference in the local circumstances, but lack of
cover was not one of them, for the island on which nested the colony
referred to by Dr. Bahr was " remarkable for its excessive verdure,
due to the guano deposited by generations of these gulls."

As the young feather, they become much more inclined to wander
away. At Walney and Ravenglass they tend to quit the sand-ridges
for the flats, where they are mercilessly attacked and often killed by
the terns, as already described (p. 91). Both chicks and fledged young
are frequently maltreated by adults of their own species, sometimes
for no apparent reason, and at other times because they are trespass-
ing. Many die either from disease or starvation. At Walney, in
1905, I saw the ground strewn with the dead bodies of fledged young,
and also a fair number of old birds.3

At all ages the young are fed by the parents in the same way as
the cock feeds the hen, that is, the food is disgorged and is either
picked up by the young off the ground, or snatched before it
reaches the ground, sometimes even before it is out of the old bird's
beak.

On one occasion Dr. Heatherley saw the parent bird bring up a

1 Home Life of Marsh Birds, p. 56.

2 Fauna of Lakeland, p. 425.

3 Cf. Macpherson, Fauna of Lakeland, p. 425 ; British Birds (Mag.), iii. 201.

148 THE GULLS

mass the size of a walnut, and keep it between the mandibles for the
young to peck at.1

The young are able to fly well in July, and towards the end of this
month both old and young quit the gullery. The species is to be seen
round our coasts in winter, also inland, where it is in parts almost as
familiar an object in the fields as the rooks, and like them, sometimes
with them, is to be seen following the plough. Its migratory move-
ments are somewhat confusing, and have yet to be clearly made out.
What is known of them is summarised in the " Classified Notes."

It is worth noting that when flying to roost the species has been
seen to adopt the chevron or V-shaped formation. This was observed
by Mr. T. A. Coward in the case of the birds that roost at Rostherne
Mere, in Cheshire, where they are to be seen in very large numbers
every evening from November to February.2

Full particulars of the food of this omnivorous species will be found
in the " Classified Notes." It obtains it not only on land and water but
also in the air. Often in the twilight of a summer evening the white
forms of the birds may be seen flitting here and there in pursuit of
moths and other insects.3

Two peculiarities in its feeding habits call for special notice. One
has been called " pool dancing " by Professor Patten, and is thus de-
scribed : — " It is this : a blackheaded-gull wades into a little pool, the
water of which is only deep enough to cover part of its feet ; it then
lowers it head and looks at the bottom. Finding no food, it at once
commences to prance up and down, stirring up the sediment, out of
which it picks various marine creatures and fragments of seaweed. I
have seen many of these birds at this performance along the mud-flats
of Dublin Bay." 4 Mr. A. H. Patterson has noticed the same several
times on the Breydon mud-flats (Norfolk), and compares it to the
dancing of a hornpipe.5

1 In litt. * Fauna of Cheshire, i. 428. Cf . also Naumann, Vo'gel Mitteleuropas, xi. 212.

3 Ussher and Warren, Birds of Ireland, p. 330 ; Zoologist, 1843, 246 ; 1844, 455, 577-78 ; 1902, 216.

4 Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 414.

5 Notes of an East Coast Naturalist, p. 142.

THE LITTLE-GULL 149

The other feeding habit calling for mention may properly be called
parasitic. It takes the form of keeping close attendance upon other
species, and of attempting to snatch from them the food they draw up
from the ground. I have repeatedly seen blackheads, two or three at
a time, standing round an oystercatcher, watching with interest the
disappearance of his long red beak into the mud, and with still greater
interest the emergence of the same. The seapie was under no illusions
as to the meaning of these attentions, and, when it drew a worm up,
lost no time in making off with its prey. This was in May at Raven-
glass. Plovers are pestered in the same way, especially in hard
weather during winter, and apparently with some success.

Having regard to these facts, one is surely justified in feeling that
the sense attached to the word " gull " in the dictionaries is no
longer appropriate.

THE LITTLE-GULL

[F. C. R. JOURDAIN]

In general appearance this gull is a miniature edition of the
blackheaded-gull, and even more closely resembles the Adriatic or
Mediterranean blackheaded-gull on a small scale. It is a tolerably
regular visitor in small numbers to the British Isles, occurring chiefly
on our east coast, and sometimes in considerable numbers in autumn
and winter. The most important visitations of which we have records
are those of 1866 and 1868 to East Yorkshire, while in the winter of
1869 and February 1870 still larger numbers were met with along the
whole of the east coast of England. Northward it has been recorded
from the Shetlands, along the Channel westward to the Scillies,
occasionally along the west side of Great Britain, and very rarely in
Ireland. As, however, it is clear that this species is extending its
breeding-grounds westward, it is probable that it will occur more

150 THE GULLS

frequently on our coasts in future years. It is still mainly an East
European and Asiatic form at the present time, but during the winter
may be met with in fair numbers even in the western Mediterranean.
Amongst its favourite winter haunts may be mentioned the lagoons of
Tunisia, where it is common, and, as noticed almost everywhere, very
tame and confiding in its habits. Many birds seem not to cross the
Mediterranean, but to winter round the coasts of Greece and the
adjacent islands. Lord Lilford gives the date of their departure from
the Ionian Islands as about the beginning of March, but in the Black
Sea they seem to remain much later, for Mr. W. H. Simpson (Ibis,
1861, p. 362) describes immense numbers as haunting the lagoons
north of Kustendji (Constanta) between April 20th and 24th. " The
flocks of Larus minutus, associated with a few individuals of Sterna
cantiaca, were literally swarming in the air a few feet above the
surface of the water, like swallows over a river on a summer's
evening. Far as the eye could reach, looking northwards down the
lake, these elegant little birds were to be seen on the feed, dashing to
and fro most actively. ... A few days later and the thousands have
become hundreds ; yet a few days more and these will have dwindled
down to tens, so that by the middle of May it is possible that not a
pair will remain behind." Probably Simpson's supposition is correct,
for when we visited the lagoons of the eastern Dobrodjea in the latter
part of May 1911, we saw no trace of this species, though its larger re-
lative, the Mediterranean blackheaded-gull, was present in thousands,
and just beginning to breed. There is, however, some slight evidence
that a pair or two occasionally stay to breed in this region, as so
many other northern forms are said to do. Dr. W. H. Cullen sent a
skin of this species to Professor Newton, stated to have been shot from
a nest with a single egg, on June 5, 1866.1 R. von Dombrowski also
includes it in his list of Roumanian birds as breeding sparingly on
Lakes Razim and Sinoe. Confirmation of these records by inde-
pendent testimony is, however, very desirable. In South Russia the

1 Oottiecn Wolleyana, ii. p. 314.

THE LITTLE-GULL 151

evidence of its breeding is not satisfactory, and von Nordmann's state-
ment that it nests in the salt lakes in numbers is not accepted by recent
writers. S. A. Buturlin only mentions the Moscow, Kazan, Ufa, and
Perm governments as Russian breeding-places, in addition to the
better-known colonies in the Baltic Provinces, near Archangel and on
Lake Ladoga. Here, however, we are on firmer ground : Blasius,
Lilljeborg, and Meves have all visited and described the Ladoga
colonies, while V. Russow met with three breeding-places in Esthonia,
Stoll found a large colony in Livonia, and in 1887 J. A. Sandman
found considerable numbers breeding on an islet near Karlo in the
Gulf of Bothnia. From here we can trace its spread westward to
Gotland and East Sweden (S. Upland and Jemtland, 1901), while in
N. Germany Henrici found it breeding on the Drausen-see in 1899
(where von Homeyer had obtained a breeding pair in 1847), and it
was recorded as nesting at Rossitten in 1902. Its western limits are,
however, the islands in the Danish fjords. At Rodby, in Laaland,
there seems little doubt that it bred in 1901 ; and at Klaegbanken, in
the Ringkjobing Fjord, nests were found in 1904, and it had probably
been breeding there for several years previously. Even as far back as
the spring of 1893 Chapman saw a couple of pairs only a few miles away
from here. The whole of this district is now strictly preserved by the
Danish Government, and can only be visited by special permission.
Klaegbanken itself is a low flat island of mud and sand, varying in
size according to the height of the water in the fjord, and covered
with coarse herbage. A strong south-west wind lasting for a day or
two will drive the waters of the North Sea up the narrow entrance of
the fjord and materially raise the level of the water inside, till a change
in the wind allows the water to flow out again. Here, in this desolate
region, with nothing to break the horizon but ghostly white houses
and clumps of trees, with the tell-tale shimmering streak of light
beneath them which shows that they are due to mirage, lie the breed-
ing-haunts of thousands of sandwich-terns, blackheaded-gulls, common
and Arctic terns, together with a few little-gulls. A few miles away

152 THE GULLS

lies the grassy peninsula of Tipper, where avocets, dunlin, redshanks,
ruffs, and a few godwit breed. To give some idea of the numbers of
birds breeding in this sanctuary, we may state that in 1900 Rambusch
estimated the number of blackheaded-gulls at about 10,000, Sandwich-
terns at 4000, while there were also large colonies of gullbilled-
terns, as well as common and Arctic-terns, on this one island alone.
On landing, careful observation results in the discovery of about ten
pairs of little-gulls among the whirling crowd of snowy forms over-
head. There is not the slightest difficulty in distinguishing them on
the wing when once seen : in full breeding plumage the black head
and small size, as well as the white tipped primaries, render them
unmistakable. Their notes, too, are very characteristic. Henrici
compares the cry to that of the redshank, though the comparison
seems rather fanciful, and writes it as " kei keikei-keikei-keikei-keikei,1
etc., often repeated twenty to forty times in succession, so that when
several birds are calling together, the result is quite a concert in the
air. They are most noisy when dashing about in small flocks close to
the ground or playing about at a great height in the air in fine
weather, and the penetrating sound can be heard above the deafen-
ing babel caused by the creaking notes of the terns and the deeper
cries of the blackheaded-gulls. Other notes described by the same
writer are a low " tok, tok, tok" while resting, or a softly uttered
"kie, kie" (or ke, ke, ke) in flight. They are sociable birds, and in
early spring are generally to be seen in small flocks. Sometimes
they ascend to such a height that they are scarcely visible, and
only the frequently uttered call-note enables us to detect their
presence.

The nests must be sought for in the wettest part of the island.
Here on the 'slob-land,' overgrown with clumps of rushes, may be
found the nests, which look like miniature blackheaded-gulls' nests.
On Klaegbanken Christensen noticed that they were built of coarse
stalks, which must have been brought by the birds from some distance.

1 Pronounced in English kayet, knyet, kayed, etc.

THE LITTLE-GULL 153

Sandman and Henrici found the nests floating on the surface of the
water or partly supported by the growing clumps of Phragmites and
water-aloe (Stmtiotes), while the principal materials used were the
stalks of Sdrpus lacustns. Owing to the situation of the nests, a very
slight rise in the water-level is enough to submerge them, and this has
been observed to happen both in Denmark and also in Esthonia.
Russow states that on visiting a colony after a disaster of this kind
about a week later, he found the birds busily building much more
substantial structures, which had a foundation about six inches
deep.1 He also noticed that in Esthonia many nests were built
on the masses of dead reeds crushed down by snow and ice in
the winter.

In the artless nest the eggs, usually two, or more typically three,
in number, are laid in the latter half of May and early in June.
Christensen found clutches highly incubated in Denmark on May 15,
1904, but on Karlo full clutches were first found by Sandman between
June 7th and 10th. Russow says that four eggs have exceptionally
been found in one nest.2 They bear a strong resemblance to those of
the common-tern, but do not show the traces of " run " colour, due to
rotation in the oviduct, and are a rather fuller and more rounded
oval in shape, though distinctly pointed at the small end. There is
generally also a tendency to an oily gloss, which is absent from the
tern's eggs, and the greenish olive ground is also characteristic of the
gull's eggs. As the two species are very often found breeding together,
careful identification is always necessary. Exceptionally, blue eggs
have occurred, as in so many other species of gulls.

The average size of 97 eggs is 1-63x1 -18 in. [41 -5x301 mm.].
When incubation has begun the birds cease to fly up and down the
lake with continuous cries. At daybreak the non-incubating birds go
away to feed, and do not return till nearly midday, when they are met
by their mates, who change places with them. We still lack information

1 Die Ornis Ehst-, lAv- und Curland's, p. 194.

2 One instance of five eggs in a nest has been recorded (W. Meves).

VOL. III.

154 THE GULLS

as to the duration of the incubation period. When the young are
hatched they skulk about among the thick growth of water-plants like
the young blackheaded-gulls.

W. Meves, in his account of the Ladoga colonies contributed to
Dresser's Birds of Europe, states that the noisy flocks which surround
the visitor to a breeding colony from time to time all leave as if by
some common impulse, but in a short time return and again renew
their expostulations. He also observed young of the previous year,
easily distinguished by the black band on the tail and the light head,
but they did not appear to be breeding.

A great part of the food of this species consists of insects captured
on the wing. It also takes small fish, and at Lake Ladoga Meves
found that these constituted its chief food. They are picked up from
the surface of the water, and the gulls do not drop into it in the way
that the terns do, so that it is rare, according to Naumann, to see
more than the bill, head, and neck immersed in the water. The same
writer includes larva? of dragon-flies, water-beetles, and molluscs in its
dietary. The huge swarms of gnats and midges, which are hatched off
in millions from the waters of these shallow lakes, also provide a great
store of food, especially Chironomus riparius, according to Christoleit.
Towards evening great columns of these insects appear, dancing
in the air, and the gulls dash through and through them with
rapid flight, seldom rising more than twenty feet above the water,
which is about the height to which the flies ascend. About the
middle of July the young are fully fledged and are strong on the
wing. Soon afterwards they begin to leave their breeding-haunts,
and by the beginning of August all have disappeared for their
winter quarters.

COMMON, HERRING, AND BLACKBACKED-GULLS 155

THE COMMON, HERRING, AND BLACKBACKED-
GULLS

[F. B. KIRKMAN]

The four gulls that form the subject of this chapter provide a
convenient group for purposes of comparison. The comparison cannot
at present be complete, for our knowledge of the domestic details of
their lives is defective. But the purpose of this book is still served, if
we show what has to be found out as well as what has been found out,
and so clear the way for future work.

In point of size and coloration the greater blackbacked-gull is to
the lesser blackbacked as the herring-gull is to the common. The
first two measure in length about 29 and 22 inches, the second two
24 and 18 inches respectively. The first two have blackish or slate-
coloured backs and wings, the other two grey. In adult plumage the
larger of the first two, the great blackbacked, has flesh-coloured legs,
so has the larger of the second two, the herring-gull. The smaller
species in both cases have yellowish legs. The common-gull alone of
the four lacks the red blotch on the downward projecting angle of the
lower mandible. The young of all four species have a curious mottled
plumage, of which the dominant colour is brown, and it is only after
three to five years of gradual transformation that they assume the
complete garb of maturity. Except in size and shape, they look
entirely different from the adults, and no doubt illustrate a phase
in the evolution of the species from the ancestral plover-like form.

The distribution of the species in the British Isles presents many
points of interest. Why, for instance, does the common-gull limit its
breeding-range to Scotland and the west of Ireland ? There are
many suitable places in England and Wales. Why, again, is the
herring-gull the most widely distributed, not only in but outside the

156 THE GULLS

British Isles, one form or another of it being found in most parts of
the northern hemisphere ? No answer to the first suggests itself at
present. The probable answer to the second is that the success of
the herring-gull is due to the fact that, for some reason, it has proved
the most adaptable in its nesting-habits. It not only nests where its
congeners nest, on tops of islands and cliffs, on moor or shore, but
also on the face of precipitous cliffs, which they avoid with the
exception of an occasional lesser blackbacked-gull.

All four are gregarious in the breeding season, but single pairs
may be found by themselves, or associated with another species.
Solitary single pairs of breeding common-gulls are not infrequently
seen on the Scottish hills.1 Single pairs of greater blackbacks are
likewise not uncommon. A notable instance is provided by a pair
which elected to nest on a grassy island in Lough Conn (N. Mayo)
amid a large colony of blackheaded-gulls. To the latter the honour
proved to be anything but agreeable, for no small number of their
eggs went to satisfy the appetite of their two gigantic relatives.2

On the interesting subject of displays or gestures very little in-
formation is available. Herring-gulls in captivity have been seen
bowing to each other, accompanying the performance with a note, not
described. The male selected his mate from three females, and it is
stated that the chosen one persecuted her two companions, prompted,
perhaps, by some primitive sense of jealousy.3 Mr. E. Selous, in a
chapter on the blackbacked and herring-gulls, observes that " Gulls
have no very salient or pronounced courting antics — I mean I have
observed none, — and, in the same sense, there is no special display of
the plumage by one sex to the other. When amorous, they walk
about closely together, stopping at intervals and standing face to face.
Then lowering their heads, they bring their bills into contact, either
just touching or drawing them once or twice across each other, or else
grasping with and interlocking them like pigeons, raising them a little,

1 Harvie-Brown, Fauna of the Moray Basin, p. 215; ibid., Fauna of Argyle and the Inner
Hebrides, p. 190.

5 Zoologist, 1911, 349. » Irish Naturalist, 1898, 255 (Win. M'Eiidoo).

Plate 104

Common-gulls in winter

By Winifred Austen

COMMON, HERRING, AND BLACKBACKED-GULLS 157

and again depressing the heads with them thus united as do they.
After this they toss up their heads into the air, and open and close
their beaks once or twice in a manner almost too soft to be called a
snap. Sometimes they will just drop their heads and raise them again
quickly, without making much action with the bills. This is dalliance,
and between each little bout of it the two will make little fidgety,
more-awaiting steps, close about one another. Always, however, or
almost always, one of the birds — and this one I take to be the female
— is more eager, has a more soliciting manner and tender begging look
than the other. It is she who, as a rule, commences and draws the
male bird on. She looks fondly up at him, and raising her bill to his,
as though beseeching a kiss, just touches with it, in raising, the
feathers of his throat — an action light but full of endearment. And in
every way she shows herself the most desirous, and, in fact, so worries
and pesters the poor male gull that often, to avoid her importunities,
he flies away."1 The behaviour of the female described in the last
few lines is not unlike that of the blackheaded-gull when trying to
persuade her mate to produce from his inside the meal she expects ;
and the male blackhead, when pestered, often wears just the same
worried look. These fondling movements of the birds, watched by
Mr. Selous, if not immediately prompted by desire for food, may
have had their origin in the same. An action first used for one
purpose may well come to be used for another quite different.

A habit frequently observed among the larger gulls, including
the blackbacked and herring, if not the common species, is that of
suddenly stretching forward the neck, in a somewhat regurgitative
manner, opening wide the beak, and uttering a wild exultant scream.
Also no doubt common to all is the menacing gesture, already
described in the case of the blackhead (p. 140), which takes the
form of lowering the neck and head, and giving to the beak an
insulting upward tilt. I have seen it made by an immature herring-
gull in St. James's Park.

1 Bird Watching, p. 111.

158 THE GULLS

Though gulls, as already noted in the case of the blackhead,
frequently limit the expression of their pugnacity to mere menace,
serious fights do occur not infrequently. Mr. Selous, in the chapter
above mentioned, gives instances that show something of the method
of combat. In one instance the combatants were two blackbacks
(species not stated), who fought beneath a living canopy formed by a
whirling crowd of interested fellow-gulls. One stood on the defensive,
"beating or trying to beat off with wings and beak the continual
eager rushes of his assailant. Many times they closed and went
struggling and flapping over the ground, attended all the time by gulls
in the air and gulls walking about or near them." The bird on the
defensive "finally beat off its assailant, who now took to the air.
Sweeping backwards and forwards above the hated one, it made each
time that it passed a little drop down upon it with dangling legs, and
delivered, or tried to deliver, a blow with the feet, a strategy which the
other met by springing up and striking with the beak." l The close
interest taken by their fellows in the fight illustrates a fact frequently
observed in bird-life. This interest is by no means confined to
individuals of the same species as the combatants. I have observed
a duel between two robins followed with the closest attention by a
hen-sparrow, to whom the proceeding appeared to afford unbounded
entertainment, judging from her loud and excited chuckles. Many
such instances might be quoted.2

In another instance the opponents, two herring-gulls, fought in
the manner already noted in the case of the blackheaded species
(p. 143). Each seized the other by the beak, and tugged, the one or
the other being dragged about, a process which it sought to resist by
spreading its wings and exerting pressure with them upon the ground.

1 Bird Watching, p. 107.

1 The interest taken by birds in the quarrels of their fellows may be the possible explana-
tion of a curious incident related by C. Rubow in his Life of the Common-gull (pages unnum-
bered). He states that he saw one of a colony of common-gulls "sentenced to death and
executed by its comrades." It was certainly killed, but only one wound was found upon the
body, and that " a deadly one in the back of the neck." It was, therefore, apparently attacked
by one bird only. But whatever be the explanation, the view that the bird's death was due to
a judicial execution is not proved by the evidence given.

COMMON, HERRING, AND BLACKBACKED-GULLS 159

The struggle lasted several minutes, and was resumed the instant the
beaks were unlocked. " At length there was a very violent struggle,
and the bird that seemed to have the advantage in its hold, by
advancing upon the other while never relaxing this, forced its head
backwards and at length right down upon its back, the bird so treated
being obviously much distressed. At last, with a violent effort, this
latter got its bill free, and the two, grappling together, and one, now,
seizing hold of the other's wing, rolled together down the steep face of
the rock. At the bottom they separated." Later the combat was
resumed, and ended in one bird flying off and alighting, to be pursued
by the other and attacked "with savage sweeps from side to side."1

The cause of these contests is not always clear. They appear to
be sometimes due to jealousy, sometimes to the presence of one bird
near the nest or nesting-place of another, and certainly at times to the
objection shown by one to the collection of nest material by another
in its immediate proximity.2

On turning to the sounds uttered by these species, one is met by
the usual hindrance to exact comparison arising from the absence of a
scientific phonetic notation. The same sounds are variously syllabled
by different observers, and it is at times only possible to recognise
their identity from circumstantial evidence. The same sounds are of
course sometimes heard differently by different ears, and in this case a
scientific notation would be of no avail. But there can be no doubt
that, if we had a separate symbol to represent each separate avian
sound, — a system corresponding to that in use among modern language
scholars and teachers, — not only would the work of comparison be
facilitated, but the study of the sounds would become far more careful
and exact.

Notwithstanding the variety of syllabic characters used, it is
possible to detect a strong family likeness in the notes uttered by the
present species. Their alarm-notes have all been variously described
as hoarse cackles, laughs, and even barks. That of the common has
been figured as kak ! skak ! or yak ! and is the most distinctive.

1 Bird Watching, p. 108. * Ibid., p. 104.

160 THE GULLS

Those of the herring and blackbacked-gulls resemble each other
closely, though by no means so closely that they cannot be differen-
tiated. They have all been syllabled as ha ! ha ! ha ! or ha ! ha ! ha !
ha! also in the case of the lesser blackbacked and herring as a
repetition of ags or cogs and the like, and in the case of the greater
blackback as og ! or ugh ! Heard closely, the laugh, or ha ! ha ! ha !
resolves itself for me, in the case of the herring and lesser blackback,
into quow ! or ow ! Uttered by the latter species, it sounds somewhat
like the gasp made by a person who has received a sudden blow in the
wind. It is sometimes slightly dissyllabic, and may perhaps be described
as sharper and more explosive than the corresponding note of the
herring-gull. When excited, both species utter the notes in rapid
succession, and may bring them to a climax, when at close quarters, with
a loud harsh scream. Usually the ow ! or quow ! is uttered three or four
times. The corresponding note of the great blackback is described by
Lord Lilford as " a sharp hoarse bark, and has a peculiar character
about it that distinguishes this from all other British gulls."1 That
these notes are used only to indicate alarm is improbable. More
information as to specific occasions on which they are heard has yet to
be collected.

Considerable ingenuity has been exercised in figuring what is,
with the note just described, the chief utterance of the four species.
It is heard usually when the birds are on the wing, and is perhaps
a call-note, and an expression of well-being. The most exact of the
attempts to represent that of the common-gull is by a German
ornithologist, J. Rohweder, and it illustrates admirably the difficulty
attendant on the use of the ordinary or nomic spelling. The render-
ing is gnjiidh, a high pitched nasalised note, with but slight stress
on the last syllable.2 I venture to believe that to those who
have not heard the sound itself, the symbol is likely to give but a
dim idea of the exact rendering, and it will, no doubt, be differently

1 Birds of Northamptonshire, ii. 259.

2 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 228 : " hoch und wie einer Art nasaler Dampfung
ynjiiah."

COMMON, HERRING, AND BLACKBACKED-GULLS 161

rendered by different individuals. Other renderings are skiah ! and
Tdjah or klijrrah, also both by Germans, Naumann and Droste-
Hulshoff.

The corresponding note of the herring and lesser blackbacked
has been figured as kiow. This, or quee-ow, is my own rendering.
The sound will be better recognised by the description of it as a
plaintive mewing note, but with something free and wild about it
that is not reminiscent of the domestic cat upon the hearth. It is
one of those singular sounds that seems to voice the spirit of the
place in which one hears it often uttered, the mid-air breezy planes
above tall cliffs or rocky isles between the blues of sea and sky.

The rendering of the kindred note of the great blackback is
kgau or kjauvihs, neither of which convey much.

Other notes are uttered by the species which have yet to be
closely studied. I have heard from the lesser blackbacked a note
something like or ! or yor ! It was uttered by one of a pair while its
mate sounded the usual explosive ow! When I drew nearer their
young, both uttered an excited ow ! rapidly repeated. The same
species has a lower note, with which the ow ! is sometimes intermixed,
like quk, guk, quk. This, intensified, is the exultant scream flung forth
by the birds when suddenly they stretch out their necks in the re-
gurgitative manner aforesaid. The scream begins often with a sound
like oo-w%rrr; then follow the quks, and occasionally a few cackling
owsf Corresponding to the yor! of the blackback is the ee-horr or
quee-hor of the herring, which I heard uttered by a few birds when
sailing, while their fellows uttered the more usual ows! I have
not noted the sounds composing the scream of this species.
Naumann makes it a repetition of its ordinary note, the kiow or
kjow. According to A. von Homeyer, the bellow of the great
blackback is its alarm-note, a rapid volley of loud ogs.1 From this it
appears that the two species last-mentioned use different kinds of
notes in their scream, which is, on the face of it, somewhat impro-

1 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 263.
VOL. III. X

162 THE GULLS

bable. It may be that, like the lesser blackback, they introduce into
it more than one kind of note.

Little is recorded of the way in which these gulls build their
nests. Herring-gulls have been seen to use their feet to make
preliminary scrapes, and their breasts to shape the nest.1 A lesser
blackback kept in captivity by Saxby used regularly to scrape out a
rude sort of nest, and sit perseveringly in it for weeks. But eggs
were of greater interest to her as articles of diet than for purposes of
incubation, and if any were introduced while she was absent, she
would, on her return, break them open with her bill and swallow
most of the contents.2

The material of the nest, which is dropped on to the chosen spot
and shaped into an untidy couch, varies from place to place,
according to what is available in the neighbourhood. Among the
kinds of material used are twigs, seaweed, grass, heather, sea-campion,
rushes, feathers, moss, and thrift. The amount of material used
varies greatly from nest to nest. Some birds content themselves with
the scantiest lining, others make bulky structures. Lord Lilford
noted that nests of the great blackbacked seen by him on the
Scillies were accumulations of several years, and were composed of
piles of withered marram and other grasses with a few sticks and
some fragments of rabbit-skin.3

There is, as in the case of the blackheaded species, some evidence
to show that the work of nest-building is performed by the female
only, but nothing definite can be said.4 Laying begins in May. The
male common-gull shares in incubation,5 and as the males of the
other species are provided with brooding spots, it may be assumed
that they do likewise.

The chicks appear to quit the nest almost as soon as they
can toddle away. According to the observations of Mr. C. J. King

1 O. Leege, Vogel der frieaischen Inseln, 1905 ; Saxby, Birds of Shetland, p. 340.

2 Ibid., p. 337. 3 Birds of Northamptonshire, ii. 259.
1 E. Selous, Bird Watching, p. 104.

6 C. Rubow, Life of the Common-gull (pages unnumbered).

COMMON, HERRING, AND BLACKBACKED-GULLS 163

in the Scilly Isles, they do this habitually, whether alarmed by the
approach of intruders or not.1 They are found hiding among the
stones, in the grass, or under any suitable cover. Intruders are
attacked by the parent birds after the manner adopted by the black-
headed-gulls. They swoop down one after the other, and when
near the enemy utter a loud and discordant scream. But they do
not appear to be, as a rule, so persistent in their efforts as the
smaller species.

Herring and common-gulls have been observed to feed their
young by regurgitation, in the same way as the blackhead.2 It is
asserted that the common-gull will swallow again a morsel, such as a
mouse or mole, which proves too large for the young. If after this
second process of digestion it is still too large, then once more it is
swallowed, and in due course regurgitated.3 In the case of a bird
observed by Mr. Selous, the food, a small fish apparently, was dis-
gorged on to the ground, and pushed with the beak towards the chick,
who thereupon swallowed it. Dr. R Heatherley has seen the greater
blackbacked regurgitate food into the beak of its young.4 I can
find no specific record of how the lesser blackbacked performs the
act of feeding its offspring, but have no doubt whatever that it
resembles its congeners. A list of the kinds of food usually given
to the young will be found in the " Classified Notes."

The food of the parents is exceedingly varied, more so even than
that of the Crow tribe, for it not only includes everything eaten by the
latter, but also much in addition drawn from the open sea. All four
species may be seen in large numbers following shoals of surface-
swimming fish. They do not plunge into the water after the manner
of Terns, but descend in a curve, and immerse, as a rule, only the head
and beak. They are not above snatching fish from the nets and from
one another. According to Mr. E. Selous' observations, a bird which

1 But according to C. Rubow (op. cit), the chicks of the common-gull find their way back to
the nest. This is also undoubtedly the case with the blackheaded-gull (see p. 146).

» Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 252 ; E. Selous, Bird Watching, p. 119 ; C. J. King,
in litt. ; and for the common-gull, Rubow, Life of the Common-gull (pages unnumbered).

3 Rubow, op. tit. 4 In litt.

164 THE GULLS

has swallowed its find will even be pursued by its fellows, and com-
pelled to disgorge.1 We have, indeed, here among the Gulls them-
selves the beginnings of the parasitic habit so highly developed in the
closely related Skuas.

Live fish forms a comparatively small part of the food of Gulls,
except when they happen to be following shoals. Dead fish they get
occasionally either stranded on the beach, or thrown away by fisher-
men, and may be seen eating the same in company with other species,
notably of the Crow Family, a temporary association by no means
favourable to friendly relations. The Crows appear generally to get
the worst of the encounters that take place. Saxby once saw a
herring-gull drive off a raven, which had ventured to approach and
pick up one of some sillacks thrown from a cottage door, and not
only was the intruder compelled to drop its booty, but it was chased
for nearly a mile, all the time crying out "as though it were being
murdered." 2

A large part of the food found by Gulls on the sea, especially in
harbours and estuaries, consists of floating matter of all kinds, a
biscuit thrown over the stern of a steamer, a lump of grease, or a dead
dog. They carry their scavenging operations inland, and may often
be seen in hundreds on and over the refuse-heaps near large towns.
I was able, at some miles distance, to locate through a field-glass the
position of the refuse-heaps near North Berwick by the living canopy of
gulls formed above them when the birds were disturbed by the
workmen in charge. Here again the Gulls come into conflict with the
Crows, and, in the attempts made by one to snatch food from the other,
it has been observed that the former have the advantage owing to their
ability to swallow at one gulp a morsel that a rook or hooded-crow
finds it necessary to divide, the delay giving the nearest gull ample
time to make a snatch.3

Inland visits for food other than refuse are frequent, especially in

1 E. Selous, Bird Watching, p. 11& * Birds of Shetland, p. 340.

s Journal fur Omithologie, 1900, 347 (Wustnei).

Plate 105

Lesser blackbacked-gulls and herring-
gulls (right) and Iceland-gull (left)

By A. W. Seaby

COMMON, HERRING, AND BLACKBACKED-GULLS 165

hard weather. Both the common and herring-gulls may often be seen
following the plough, sometimes by themselves, sometimes with other
species, such as rooks, starlings, and blackheaded-gulls. I have not
seen the blackbacked species following the plough, and can find no
record that they do, but they are not infrequently to be seen on the
ploughed fields hunting for worms and insects like their congeners.
They are, all four, great hunters of small rodents — rats, mice, voles,
moles, and young rabbits. They hunt for these on field and moor, as
well as for less legitimate game. Occasionally they pick up grain
that is left uncovered, and make raids upon the turnips. Saxby
saw a field of turnips half destroyed by herring-gulls. The birds
eat the inside of the roots, leaving the outside untouched. As each
bird made its way into the body of a turnip, its head naturally
disappeared from sight, but not for long ; it fed much like a tit at a
cocoa-nut, dive, peck, a hasty withdrawal, nervous look round, another
peck, and so on. The birds seemed fully aware of the temerity of
their proceedings.1

The favourite feeding-grounds of the larger Gulls are the flats laid
bare by the receding tide. There, in ooze beds or rocky pools, they
hunt for starfish, crabs, whelks, mussels, and the like, and stranded
carrion. Both the herring and the common species have been seen
dancing on the mud or sand, like the blackheaded-gull, in order to
stir up whatever eatables it might contain, including worms. Of a
herring-gull kept by him in captivity Montagu writes : " When the
weather is mild and the ground moist, it is amusing to observe its
method of catching worms by a perpetual trampling on the same spot,
turning about in all directions, and eagerly examining for those that
rise out of the ground, which are instantly seized, and the same work
is .renewed. Similar means are frequently used by fishermen to
procure worms for bait ; but it would hardly be conceived that the
slight pressure or concussion occasioned by the trampling of so small
a body as a gull should force the worms from their retreat, but such is

1 Birds of Shetland, p. 340.

166 THE GULLS

the fact." 1 The two species mentioned also fly into the air with crabs
or shell-fish and let them drop from a height in order to break them.
A dozen herring-gulls or more have been observed stationed at regular
intervals of about a hundred yards from one another, all busily "shell-
dropping." 2 A common-gull has been noted to drop the same shell
ten times before breaking it.3 Whether the lesser blackback drops
shells or practises dancing for its food is not recorded. The greater
blackback lets drop from a height the puffins it seizes, but what
purpose is served is not clear, for the unhappy victim is previously
banged into an almost lifeless condition and partly eviscerated.4 This
gull has not been recorded as being in the habit of dropping shells
or crabs ; it certainly has no need to drop the latter, for its usual
method, noted by Mr. A. H. Patterson, at Breydon, Norfolk, is to kill
the crab with a blow of its bill, then swallow it whole. An individual
watched by Dr. Heatherley used to carry its crab to a pool and
wash it before swallowing.

During the breeding season the three larger species, and to a
lesser degree the common-gull, devour a large number of the eggs
and young of other species nesting in their neighbourhood, such as
puffins, guillemots, shearwaters, kittiwakes, blackheaded-gulls, ducks,
and game-birds. Both the lesser blackbacked and the herring-gull
are in the habit of thrusting their heads down the puffin burrows to
draw out the chicks, which they peck into a condition of convenient
inactivity and then swallow whole.5 The lesser blackbacked-gulls are
not content to devour the chicks, but also make short work of the
parents when they can catch them, which they succeed in doing by
the simple device of watching at the mouth of the nesting-hole.
When the unsuspecting puffin issues forth, it is seized by the neck,
shaken and banged about, and finally eviscerated, the opened body

1 Dictionary of Birds (Newman's edit.). Cf. Macgillivray, History of Birds, v. 578 (common-
gull), 547 (herring-gull).

1 Patten, Aquatic Birds, p. 427. See also Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 248 ( Jourdain,
etc.). 3 Coward, Fauna of Cheshire, i. 430.

4 C. J. King, in litt. • P. Heatherley, in litt.

COMMON, HERKING, AND BLACK BACKED-GULLS 167

being left lying about. The shearwaters are caught in the same way.
Mr. C. J. King, to whom I am indebted for this information, and who
has often watched the lesser blackbacks and their congeners engaged
in their murderous work, collected, one year, on a patch of ground
about 50 to 60 feet across, a heap of about thirty of these victims
and photographed them. This photograph, which I have, makes it
clear that the gull contents itself with the internal parts, which it
draws through a hole in the abdomen, leaving the rest of the body
intact. No doubt if puffins and shearwaters were not so abundant,
the lesser blackback would not be so fastidious. The great blackback
shows itself at times equally fastidious, but, if indisposed to play the
gourmet, it has this advantage over its congeners that it can save
itself much trouble by swallowing its bird whole, a fact sufficiently
proved by the presence of the heads of puffins and shearwaters among
the castings of indigestible matter, fur, shells, bones, etc., which, like
its congeners, it is in the habit of disgorging. A good photograph of
these ejected heads will be found on Plate XLVI. (p. 130). l The ability of
the great blackback to swallow comparatively large birds has, moreover,
been proved by post-mortem examinations. One was found to have
swallowed a redshank whole, legs and all, another a little-auk, which
was so slightly damaged by its incarceration that it was preserved by
a taxidermist.2 The ventral capacity of the species may be estimated
from the fact that six full-sized herrings were disgorged by one and
the same bird.3 The great blackback's method of capturing its victim
is more open and direct than that of the herring-gull and lesser
blackback. It suddenly pounces upon a puffin that happens to be off
its guard, seizes it by the neck, shakes it as a dog does a rat, and lets
it go. The puffin, if not sufficiently injured, may profit by its release
to fly off, and it sometimes escapes. As a rule, the unhappy creature
is seized again and again, and shaken till it can scarcely move. The
gull finally picks it up, flies up a hundred feet or so, and lets it drop

1 The heads were found in castings examined by Mr. C. J. King in the Scillies.

2 Nelson, Birds of Yorkshire, p. (584 ; Nature, 1895, 121. 3 Nelson, loc. cit.

168 THE GULLS

on the rocks. It then descends in a leisurely manner — for it has no
fear that any other gull will venture to dispute its rights — and, if not
very hungry, merely eviscerates its victim and devours the internal
parts.1 The great blackback occasionally spoils the spoilers. Mr.
C. J. King informs me he has seen a pair of these birds tear in two the
chick of a lesser blackback, and each swallow its half.

The herring-gull has not been observed to eat adult puffins and
shearwaters, but it is difficult to believe that it is less enterprising in
this respect than its fellows, the more so as it is known to seize fully
fledged young kittiwakes, simply throttling them, and then tearing
open the soft, warm breasts.2

It is perhaps hardly necessary to add that wounded birds, ducks,
game-birds, and the like receive little mercy if they chance to be
detected. The same applies to the small migrants that reach our
shores on weary wings. They are promptly seized and swallowed

whole.

After the recital of these gruesome gastronomic feats, it comes
almost as a relief to know that the gulls themselves are victimised
by Skuas. The latter chase and force them to disgorge their last
meal, which they then snap up and swallow in mid-air. From these
attacks the great blackbacked-gull seems to be exempt: it has
apparently only the eagles to fear,3 and human beings. The latter
consume every summer bucketsful of gull's eggs, and they are said to
be good eating. One lighthouse-keeper told me he was equal to a
breakfast of three to four of those of the lesser blackbacked.
Personally I never got beyond the first spoonful, the flavour being
too strong for my taste.

The eggs are not always taken for such legitimate purposes, as the
following incident narrated by Mr. J. M. Boraston will show.4 He
happened to be on Puffin Island one day when it was visited by a
Field Naturalists' Club. In reference to some of the members of this

1 C. J. King, in litt. '* E. Selous, The Bird Watcher in the Shetland*, pp. 308, 314.

3 Naumanu, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 205. 4 Birds by Land and Sea, p. 244.

Plate 106

Great blackbacked-gulls

By A. W. Seaby

COMMON, HERRING, AND BLACKBACKED-GULLS 169

Club, which it is only fair to say must not be taken as typical, he
writes : " I had never before seen grown men invade a bird-haunt like
savages, rushing from nest to nest with excited shouts — beside them-
selves, in fact, with the wealth of plunder lying at their feet. One
fellow, more methodical in his barbarity, went about testing the state
of the eggs by working a knife-blade through the shells : if the egg
contained a chick in an advanced state of development, the blood
which appeared showed that it was useless for blowing purposes,
and it was returned to the nest. Upon my expostulating at this
barbarity, he expressed regret that he ' had no stamp-paper ! ' If
the egg gave signs of having been freshly laid, it was stored with
a growing collection in a wicker-basket he carried. . . . The eggs
so gathered were brought down to the beach for final test ; if they
floated, they were too far advanced for cabinet purposes, and were
stoned down." x

Such barbarity is far more revolting than the disembowelling
of puffins above described, for it serves only an idle and childish
purpose ; the gulls, at least, confine themselves to killing for
food, in which they show themselves vastly more civilised than
mankind.

In August or earlier, they quit for the most part their breeding-
haunts, and are found during the autumn and winter in various
parts of the British Isles, both inland and on or near the coast, or out
at sea. They are usually seen in flocks or small parties, either
separate or associated with other species, the least gregarious being
the great blackbacked. But flocks of thirty or more of these are
at times observed. The relations between young and old at this
season have yet to be closely studied. They are not always very
cordial, and this is probably due in the first place to the determination
of the parents to make the young understand that they must shift for

1 Mr. Jourdain tells me that a small incision with a pin made in an egg will not prevent it
hatching, and that if .covered with stamp-plaster no damage will ensue. This fact is not given
in order to vindicate the behaviour of the gentleman referred to in the text ; he used a knife-
blade, and, on his own showing, " had no stamp-paper."

VOL. III. Y

170 THE GULLS

themselves instead of continuing to beg for their food. I used to
watch a small company of herring-gulls that took up their winter
quarters in St. James's Park. Near them were four or five immature
birds of the same species, who would gladly have joined their elders
had they been permitted to do so. But no sooner did one of them
make advances than an old bird would begin to edge towards him with
an air of meditative detachment from mundane affairs that might well
have deceived the proposed victim had he not already been taught its
meaning by experience. But such is the fascination exercised by
exclusiveness, that the young gull would persist in staying up to the
moment that the approaching bill was suddenly aimed at him like a
dagger, and he persisted in returning. The only time he actively
resented this treatment was at meal-time ; then his protests were
wide-beaked and his conduct irreverent.

There is evidence to show that, as autumn draws on to winter, all
four species make fairly general but irregular southward movements,
which may or may not extend beyond our shores. For instance, a
young herring-gull ringed in the summer in Aberdeenshire, was recap-
tured on January 30 near Manchester. At an earlier date, October
3, another was caught farther south, at Hunstanton, Norfolk, while a
third was still at Aberdeen on November 15. About the same period
a young lesser blackbacked-gull, ringed at the Fames in June, was
taken as far south as Portugal. The few exact facts that we possess
about these movements are due to the modern practice of placing
rings on the legs of birds at the breeding-place ; they suffice to
assure us that exceedingly interesting results may be expected in
the future.

GLAUCOUS-GULL 171

GLAUCOUS-GULL
[F. C. R JOURDAIN]

As a British bird the glaucous-gull is only known as a winter
visitor, principally to our eastern coasts, and much commoner in the
northern part of Great Britain than in the southern half. It is an
annual visitor to the Shetlands, which seem to lie on its southward
line of migration, but is comparatively rare on the Orkneys. Saxby
tells us that small flocks, composed of young and old birds, but chiefly
the former, appear about the middle of October. Some of the young
birds may be seen throughout the winter months, but the old birds
disappear shortly after their arrival.1 These flocks travel down the
east coast, but seem to have a definite route, not following the
indentations of the coast, but working from one outlying point to
another. On account of this habit most of our records come from
certain localities on their flight-lines. It must not be supposed that
the numbers which visit us are at all uniform, for they vary extra-
ordinarily from year to year. Edmonston observed a flock of over a
hundred birds in November 1820 in Balta Sound in the Shetland Isles ;
and in November 1864, in the face of a gale of wind, Saxby saw a
flock of about a hundred and forty birds flying over. In 1871-72
immense numbers of this species, and probably also some Iceland
gulls, visited the east coast of Scotland, and were especially noticed in
the Firth of Forth and also at the Tay mouth, the Eden estuary, and
the coast of north-east Fife.2 In the winter of 1872-73 a still more
extensive migration took place. Mr. Harvie-Brown describes how, at
St. Andrews, he saw " literally hundreds — principally glaucous-gulls —
that winter, streaming along the tops and under the shelter of the
sandhills which fringe the golf-links, flying low and almost touching

1 Saxby, Birds of Shetland, p. 349.

2 J. A. Harvie-Brown, A Fauna of the Tay Basin and Strathmore, p. 338.

172 THE GULLS

the tops, and hugging the shelter these afforded from the gale from
seaward that was blowing." It may be a coincidence, but this winter
was remarkable for the enormous shoals of sprats (Clupea sprattus)
which swarmed in the narrow tideway of the Upper Forth at
Kincardine, as well as higher up, to such an extent that they were
shovelled out on to the adjoining fields as manure in hundreds of
tons. It was noticed that the great invasion of Pomatorhine and
other skuas in October 1879 was also accompanied by the presence
of vast shoals of herrings and sprats off our east coast,1 so that it
seems probable that the two events were connected with one another
in each case. Other important visitations of this species took place in
1876-77 and 1894-95, and during the terrible storms of January 1881
some forty-five or fifty specimens were brought into Yarmouth by the
fishing boats, probably for the most part from the Dogger Bank.

By far the greater number of these birds are immature ; it is only
rarely that a specimen in adult plumage is recorded, but the great
preponderance of immature birds is partly accounted for by the long
period which this species takes to assume the fully adult plumage.
There is no reasonable doubt that it does not breed during the first
four years of its life, but the summer home of these immature birds is
practically unknown. Dr. Alfred Walter, while stationed at Whales
Point Harbour in East Spitzbergen from May 29 to June 7, 1889,
noticed that on his arrival all the glaucous-gulls were old birds in full
plumage. On May 30 the first immature birds appeared, a flock of
six and then a single bird, all heading due north. From this date
onwards many young birds in all stages of plumage, sometimes
accompanied by old birds, passed over in flocks, the largest of which
numbered from twenty to thirty individuals.2

Even in the immature state the glaucous-gull is not difficult to
recognise. In size it equals the great blackback, and has a steady,
soaring flight. The wings are less bent at the carpal joint than in the
other gulls, giving them the appearance of being more extended.

1 Stevenson, Birds of Norfolk, iii. 351. " Journal fur Ornithologie, 1890, p. 243.

Plate 107

Glaucous-gulls

By Winifred Austen

GLAUCOUS-GULL 173

Naumann compares the flight to that of the common and rough-legged
buzzard, while Gray describes it as "soft, sedate, and owl-like."
When seen at close quarters, the conspicuous white or whitish quills
form a useful distinguishing character, especially as it is not
particularly wary, and will allow the observer to approach closely, as a
rule. The only other white-winged species is the Iceland-gull, which
is, however, a smaller bird. In full breeding plumage it is practically
all white except the pale grey mantle and wings, but, as Saxby points
out, at a distance it appears to be a dull, creamy white all over. He
also notes that in the water it sits more buoyantly than the herring-
gull

When on the wing it generally flies high, and on migration is
almost always seen in company. It is less curious and inquisitive
than the other gulls, and does not show the same wish to closely
inspect every visitor. In the Shetlands, where it is little disturbed,
it will allow a very close approach. Saxby says that while wandering
along the shore he has more than once come across an old bird
feeding amongst the weed, and has seen it merely walk into the water
and swim about a little until he was past, and then wade leisurely
ashore and renew its search for food.1 With the possible exception
of the kittiwake, none of the gulls which commonly visit us can be
said to be pleasant or desirable companions to any living creature
smaller or weaker than themselves; but though accounts of this
species vary, there seems little doubt that its disposition is less
savage and bloodthirsty than the great or lesser blackback or the
herring-gull. Its bearing is sedate and lacking in vivacity, and it
does not warn other species of the presence of danger, but contents
itself with quickly flying away. When pressed by hunger, of course it
is greedy and voracious to a degree, but, where carrion is obtainable,
it does not seem to pay much heed to smaller birds, except when
wounded or injured in some way, though there is little doubt that the
colonies which breed on the top of the great loomeries in Novaya

1 Birds of Shetland, p. 350.

174 THE GULLS

Zemlya and other places subsist chiefly, if not entirely, on their
helpless neighbours' eggs and young. Scoresby says that the fulmar,
the ivory-gull, and the kittiwake all retire when the burgomaster
descends on its prey. W. H. Hudson noticed that a glaucous-gull
when approached by another gull while feeding, " looked fixedly at
him a couple of moments, then drawing in its head, suddenly tipped
its beak upward — an expressive gesture, corresponding to the snarl of
a dog when he is feeding." a The significant movement produced a
marked effect on the other gulls. On the other hand, a nest of the
glaucous-gull has been observed surrounded at a respectful distance
by eider-ducks sitting quietly on their eggs,2 and Kolthoff has seen an
eider-duck drive off a pair of these gulls. The Rev. A. E. Eaton also
says that the glaucous-gull stands in some awe of the fulmar in the
water, while on the ice the ivory-gull is treated with respect.
Dr. Saxby even goes so far as to describe it as good natured — rather a
strong expression to use of one of the larger gulls, — and adds that it is
the least meddlesome of its tribe, though a match for the great black-
back itself, and far more than a match for any of the rest.

On an average the glaucous-gulls have left the Shetlands on their
way to their breeding-haunts by the middle or end of March, but they
are somewhat irregular and uncertain in their movements. Though
a single bird is said to have been seen at Bear Island in February,
Mr. A. Pike did not observe it on Spitzbergen till March 26, while
W. H. Neale records the first from Franz-Josef Land on April 22,
and Bunge saw the first at Horn Sound on April 4, and did not find it
common till May 5.

They resort to the same breeding-places year after year, and
probably also make use of the remains of the former years' nests.
The tendency of this species is to breed in colonies, but the nests are
not placed close together, and isolated pairs are frequently found
nesting considerable distances away from any others. The nesting-
sites vary according to the locality ; thus on Spitzbergen many nests

1 Land's End, p. 23. » Zoologist, 1874, 3811.

GLAUCOUS-GULL 175

are placed among the shingle and drift on the beach above high-water
mark, or so low down on the cliffs that they can easily be reached,
while others are placed on low rocks and islets, and one nest was
found by Eaton among the upturned roots of a dead spruce fir.1 In
the great loomeries of Novaya Zemlya Pearson found the glaucous-
gulls occupying the topmost ledges of the great ranges of cliff, from
whence they could look down on the myriads of breeding guillemots
below them.2 On the other hand, on Korga Island, off the Murman
coast, he found a large colony breeding on the sand-dunes, which
reached to a height of some thirty or forty feet,3 and Seebohm also
found young birds on the sandy, low-lying Golaievski Islands, near
the mouth of the Petchora River. Where there is plenty of material
available, the glaucous-gull builds a big substantial nest of some two
feet in diameter and 3^ to 5-£ inches high, composed of tang and
other seaweed, moss, and dead grass pulled up by the roots.
Kolthoff noticed blossoms of Saxifraga oppositiflora in the nest, and
Le Roi found Cochlearia officinalis similarly used on Bear Island. On
sandy islets where there is little in the way of material, the nests are
mere hollowed heaps of sand lined with a few tufts of seaweed, while
on Prince Charles Foreland Kolthoff found nests composed entirely
of stones about the size of a pigeon's egg.

In most cases fresh or slightly incubated eggs may be taken in
the first or second week of June, but Romer and Schaudinn found
many young in down in Spitzbergen on June 13, so that in some cases
the eggs must be laid by mid-May. Off the Murman coast Pearson
found the eggs fresh or only slightly incubated on June 27. The
eggs are from two to three in number as a rule, and Pearson found
that all three young were frequently hatched out, and that the third
egg was not necessarily unfertile, as is often the case in Spitzbergen.
Four eggs have occasionally been found in one nest, and in Spitz-
bergen this seems to have occurred more than once, for both Romer

1 Zoologist, 1874, 3811.

2 H. J. Pearson, Beyond Petsora Eastward, p. 163.

3 Three Summers in Russian Lapland, p. 105.

176 THE GULLS

and Schaudinn and Koenig record clutches of four eggs. Although
in some cases indistinguishable from those of the great blackbacked-
gull, they are frequently a much blunter and more rounded oval in
shape. Like most gulls' eggs, they are found in varying shades of olive-
brown or bluish green, and are rather sparingly blotched, streaked, and
spotted with dark maroon or blackish brown and violet-grey shell-
marks. On Koenig's expedition a light bluish green clutch, only
slightly marked with a few shell-marks and greyish brown blotches, was
found on Bear Island. Formerly it was believed that the red eggs of
the herring-gull (and perhaps also of the great blackbacked-gull),
which have occasionally been taken on the islands off Yardo in
Norway, belonged to this species, but it is now generally agreed that
it does not breed in Norway at all.

Of the habits of this gull during incubation and while rearing the
young we know practically nothing. Yet it has bred more than once
in the Zoological Gardens at London, and two young birds which were
hatched there on June 24, 1868, were still alive and well in 1879.
There is, however, no notice of this interesting event in the Proceedings
of the Zoological Society for 1868, and Larus glaucus is not even
mentioned in a list of birds which have bred in the Gardens, which
appeared in the Proceedings for 1869. These birds, however, enabled
Howard Saunders to watch their changes of plumage to maturity, and
to satisfy himself that the almost uniform creamy or even perfectly
white plumage is assumed for a very short time just before the
autumnal moult at which the pearl-grey mantle is assumed. It was a
bird in this stage which was described as a new species by Richardson,
under the name of Larus hutchinsi.

Mr. F. J. Jackson tells us that on his approaching a nest, one of
the birds scattered some of the nest material over the eggs, no doubt
with intent to conceal them. They showed considerable courage in
defending the nest, swooping down within a foot or two of his head,
and uttering loud screeches as they passed.1 Fischer says that both

1 F. J. Jackson, A Thousand Days in the Arctic, p. 391.

GLAUCOUS-GULL 177

sexes will pursue the nest plunderer for hours.1 As brooding-spots
are found in both sexes according to Naumann, it is probable that
they share the duties of incubation. He also gives the period as four
weeks, which is probably approximately correct.

The downy young are, according to Seebohm, like those of Larus
affinis, but the dark markings on the back are fewer and fainter.
Saunders describes them as stone-grey, with a slight tinge of yellowish
buff above : the head spotted with black, and the back mottled with
ash-brown. In the Spitzbergen group most of them are hatched by
the end of June or early in July. They leave the nest as soon as they
can fly, and walk freely about the rocks. A young bird taken from the
nest on Jan Mayen was visited for several days by its parents, and on
one occasion followed them to the sea for six hundred paces. This
bird usually became excited on hearing the call of its parents, while
two others, their heads bent sideways, listened with indifference.

Hardly anything comes amiss to this powerful bird in the way of
food. When a whale is being "flensed" he is in close attendance,
swooping down on the floating fragments and carrying them off' on the
wing. Colonel Feilden relates how two reindeer shot by him were
reduced to hides and skeletons in an extraordinarily short space of
time by these birds. Almost any kind of carrion, and the excrement
of the walrus, seal, and polar bear, is also devoured. When the
carcass of one of the larger mammals is discovered, the eyes are first
picked out and access thus obtained to the brain. This method of
procedure is shared with other large carrion-eating birds, such as the
Ravens and Vultures. In the breeding season vast numbers of eggs
and young birds are taken, and it has been seen in hot pursuit of a
little-auk, a young Briinnich's guillemot, and a wounded ivory-gull.
One killed in Norfolk was eating a dead coot, and another contained
a whole golden-plover, while a bird shot by Captain Ross disgorged a
little-auk, and on being opened another quite whole was found in its
stomach ; but healthy birds are rarely interfered with. Fish of all

1 Zoologist, 1890, 49.
VOL. III. Z

178 THE GULLS

kind, alive or dead, are freely eaten, and the lump fish, Cydopterus
lumpus, is especially sought for. Among Crustacea we may mention
Cancer pulex and C. araneus, and among Mollusca Venus islandica and
Pecten islandicus as forming part of its diet, as well as a large species
of Decapod (Hyas) and Holothurians. Hagerup states that in
spring, when the flocks of eiders are diving for mussels off the Green-
land coast, the glaucous-gulls may be observed swimming or flying
among them, and as soon as a duck comes to the surface with a
mussel, a gull attempts to seize it (Auk, 1889, p. 214). But this
is not all, for even when animal food is plentiful it likes to vary it
with seaweed. Saxby has taken as many as five species of Algse from
the stomach of one bird, chiefly Alaria esculenta, while Naumann says
that it is said to eat the berries of Empetrwm, nigrum. With such
varied tastes it is perhaps not surprising that Saxby found only one of
all that he examined to be in poor condition ; usually they were so fat
as to cause much trouble in skinning, and the fat always smelt strongly
of whale-oil. The more indigestible portions of the food are thrown
up again in the form of pellets, and Schalow gives some interesting
details of the contents of some of these obtained in Spitsbergen.1
One huge pellet, nearly 8 inches long and 1 inch wide, contained the
remains of a young ivory-gull, which had been swallowed whole.
Another was globular-shaped, and measured about 2f inches long and
1| inch wide. As Schalow remarks, it seems inconceivable how a
pellet over 6 inches long and If inch wide can pass through the
gullet without injury to the bird.

The notes of this species have a great resemblance to those of the
other large gulls, such as the great blackback. Le Hoi writes the
call-note as a loud "kau kau kawkawkaw," which is probably the same
sound which von Heuglin syllables as " gogdu, gogau" and Naumann as
"giiowutiu." When the breeding-place is invaded a shrill " gagagak"
or "gogogok" is incessantly uttered, probably the former being a
remonstrance by the hen and the latter by the cock bird. Other

1 Journal filr Ornithologie, 1899, p. 378.

ICELAND-GULL 179

notes which are uttered on the wing are " kuija, kuija, kija" or a short
" kaea kaea." 1

Towards the end of October the breeding-grounds in Spitzbergen
are forsaken. Arnold Pike noted flocks for the last time on Amster-
dam Island on October 13, 1888,2 and Bunge saw one or two as late
as October 26 and 27 ; but by the beginning of November the last
burgomaster has left the ice-bound coast behind him, and winged his
way southward to the open sea and sheltered fjords of Iceland and
the Fseroes, or the voes and firths of the Shetlands. The Austro-
Hungarian expedition to Jan Mayen, however, had a somewhat
different experience, and both old and young birds were seen as long
as the sea was free from ice, i.e. till December, while a young bird was
shot at sea on January 22, 1883, and again on March 17.3

ICELAND-GULL

[F. C. R. JOURDAIN]

The material available for the life-history of this gull is at present
far from complete, chiefly because most of those who have had
opportunities of observing it at home have contented themselves with
remarking that in its habits it resembles the glaucous-gull. Very
probably this is the case, but in studying one cannot afford to take
anything for granted, and it may be that closer investigation will
reveal essential points of divergence, which in the course of time have
resulted in the permanent differentiation of the two species.

In size the Iceland-gull is decidedly a smaller bird than the
glaucous, but the wings are much longer in proportion. Saxby says
that on the wing it can be recognised at any distance by its long and
pointed white wings, and by a peculiar roundness of body. The flight,
too, as might be expected, is more airy and buoyant, and not so owl-

1 Le Roi, Avifauna Spitzbergensis, p. 192. 2 Chapman, Wild Norivay, p. 344.

3 Zoologist, 1890, 49.

180 THE GULLS

like as that of the glaucous-gull, and Harvie-Brown says that when
flying low or against a dark cloud, the white primaries show like a
narrow strip of silver along the wing. When at rest, the same observer
states that the Icelander can be distinguished by its neater and more
slender appearance, standing higher on its feet, and carrying the tips
of its long wings at the same level as the end of the tail, while the
glaucous-gulls carry the tips of the wings higher, and in consequence
have a less trim and tidy appearance. It seems also to be more active
and energetic than its larger neighbour, in this respect resembling the
herring-gull ; and Faber says that it is not afraid to fight with equal
or even superior antagonists for food.

As far as the British Isles are concerned, it is a fairly frequent,
but very irregular, winter visitor to the north. In the Shetlands and
Orkneys it occurs annually, but only in small numbers, and occasion-
ally ranges down the east coast of Scotland in some numbers. During
the great invasion of glaucous-gulls which took place in the winters
of 1871-72 and 1872-73, which has already been described, consider-
able numbers of Iceland-gulls were also seen. On January 4, 1873,
six adult birds were identified by Messrs. R. Gray and J. A. Harvie-
Brown in the Firth of Forth. After that date they occurred more
frequently, and on some days were even more numerous than the
glaucous-gulls. On the 13th, within a few seconds, Harvie-Brown
counted no fewer than twelve adult birds, flying low against the wind,
and distinctly showing the white primaries. From this time on they
were constantly in sight, two, three, or more at a time, all flying away
inland and alighting on a ploughed field on Dunmore estate, till
towards the afternoon not a single Iceland-gull was visible over the
Firth. Comparatively few birds out of this body were noticed on the
Tay. Along the east coast of England it is always rare, and the few
that are met with are generally immature. Considerable numbers,
however, reached the Cornish coasts in the early part of the year 1873,
and, after a succession of stormy days, both adult and immature birds
were met with on the South Devon coast in the winter of 1874-75.

ICELAND-GULL 181

These birds may have reached us by the west coast of Great Britain,
as some usually migrate along the west coast of Scotland ; and Dr.
Salter says that in some winters it is not rare along the coast of
Cardigan Bay. Thus, in January and February 1892, it was observed
in some numbers on the north and west coasts of Scotland, and this
migration extended along the shores of North Ireland, where it had
not previously been noticed in any numbers, though since that date it
seems to have occurred on many occasions.

On the way north an occasional straggler may be met with late in
the spring, but though recorded from the Humber as late as April 18,
the great bulk of our winter guests leave the Shetlands towards
the end of March. In Iceland they stay later, and Faber says that
though their numbers decreased towards the end of April, they
had not all disappeared till the end of May. To some extent their
movements here are regulated by the ice, for in the spring of 1821,
when the fjords of the northern coast were choked by drift ice from
Greenland, they stayed on the south coast till the middle of May, and
then left it entirely, to proceed to their breeding-haunts. When we
come to trace out the breeding-range of this species, at first sight
it appears to be wholly a nearctic breeding species. It is true
that it ranges in winter to Norway and Finland, and von Pelzeln
identified a specimen from Novaya Zemlya, while Middendorff
thought that he recognised it on the Taimyr, but Saunders ascribed
all the Bering Sea and North Pacific records to the glaucous-gull.
On the other hand, we know that there is a strong colony on Jan
Mayen, and that it breeds in great numbers in Greenland, while the
principal localities in Arctic America where it has been found nesting
are given in the " Classified Notes." But outside this area, which
undoubtedly represents the chief breeding-grounds of this species,
there is some evidence that it occurs sporadically in small numbers
over a much wider area. Thus E. W. Nelson states that it ranges
not only across Bering Straits, but along the east coast of Arctic
Siberia to Ice Cape and Wrangel Island, and Bunge met with it on

182 THE GULLS

the Lena in latitude 71° N. Moreover, M. N. Ssmirnow, during his
voyage in the ex-trawler Pomor from March to August 1901, kept a
diary of the birds observed by him while cruising in the Kara Sea
and the Arctic Ocean between Novaya Zemlya and the North Cape
(sometimes known as Barents Sea). Off the Murman coast and the
entrance to the White Sea, Iceland-gulls were observed at various
dates between March 20 and April 17. Still more remarkable is the
occurrence of this species off Kolguev on June 18, 23, and 25, while
on the southern island of Novaya Zemlya not only were birds
observed early in July, but a nest, which apparently contained
eggs, on an inaccessible pinnacle of slate, was found on July 3, and
both parents shot.1 As glaucous-gulls were also met with at most of
these localities, it is difficult to understand how there could possibly
be any confusion of the two species in this case. On the other hand
Colonel Feilden, who accompanied Mr. H. J. Pearson on his voyages
to these seas, and who is thoroughly acquainted with the Icelander,
informs me that neither he nor his companions ever saw a single gull
which could even doubtfully be ascribed to this species. At any rate,
the question of its occurrence in the Palsearctic region is one which
deserves investigation, and, while further corroboration is needed
before M. Ssmirnow's identification can be accepted, the problems of
distribution cannot be solved by merely ignoring them, as is too
frequently the case.

With regard to the breeding-habits of this gull, little has been
recorded. On Jan Mayen the nests were placed on low ledges, often
scarcely projecting above high-water mark,2 but there is evidence that
it is also frequently found breeding on the tops of lofty cliffs. Thus
in Greenland about a thousand pairs breed on a cliff overlooking the
fjord near Ivigtut, about 2500 feet above the water, according to
Hagerup. If the nests ascribed by Dall to this species are correctly
assigned, the nests on the Lower Yukon were mere depressions in the
sand. The eggs are two, or more frequently three, in number, and are

1 Omithologische Jahrbuch, 1901, p. 201. * Zoologist, 1890, 50.

ICELAND-GULL 183

much smaller than those of the glaucous-gull. The average of 46
eggs is 2'69 x T89 in. [68'4 x 48*1 mm.], and in ground-colour they vary
from light olive and grey-buff or greenish, to olive-brown, blotched
and spotted somewhat evenly with dark umber-brown markings, and
grey- violet underlying blotches. In some eggs the blotches and spots
tend to form a wreath. All detailed information as to the share of
the sexes in nest-building and incubation, as well as the length of
the incubation period, is still lacking. The eggs, in Greenland, are
generally laid between May 25 and June 28.

The young of this species pass through similar stages of plumage
to those of the glaucous-gull, but the pure white stage, which has been
rarely met with in the case of the glaucous-gull, on account of its brief
duration, was unknown in this bird until described by Eagle Clarke
in the Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, 1899, p. 164,
and, as in that species, is only retained for a short time, just before
maturity is attained in the fourth year.

Like the other large gulls, it is practically omnivorous, and in the
Arctic regions subsists largely on carrion, the excrement of large
mammals, and wounded or injured birds. It also devours fish,
molluscs, and crustaceans, and Saxby notes that it is more partial to
vegetable food than some of its congeners, often resorting to the
fields, where it is seen in attendance on the tethered pigs, possibly in
search of worms. The stomachs of birds examined by him contained
oats, vegetable fibre, and quartz. Faber states that in Iceland they
come to the house doors in winter to pick up the entrails thrown away
by the inhabitants, and fight fiercely for them with the ravens. To
the seal-hunters they are useful as indicating where seals may be
found, by continually pursuing them overhead as they swim below,
hovering over them while in pursuit of fish, and swooping down
upon their prey when driven to the surface. In the same way they
will follow the track of the cod-fish, to feed upon the fish and other
organisms pursued by them. On the whole, it may be described as
more of a fish-eating gull than a flesh-feeder.

184 THE GULLS

The notes are said to differ considerably from those of the glaucous-
gull. Hantzsch writes the cry as " gi, gi, gi, grrr" and says that it
has notes like those of L. glaucus, but softer, " Gag gagag gogogogog
gigigigig." Faber writes them more briefly as "ik-knirrrr, giow" (like
that of L. marinus), and "Aoo"; while Saxby, without venturing to
express the note by letters, says it has a character of its own, and
proceeds to compare it with that of the goose.

Soon after the middle of September the first arrivals from the
north appear in Iceland, and from that date onward some may be
seen throughout the winter till their departure about the end of April
for their breeding-grounds.

THE KITTIWAKE.
[F. B. KIRKMAN]

This, the most fascinating of our Gulls, differs in marked particulars
from the other members of its subfamily, and is placed in a genus
(Rissa) apart. One of its distinctive peculiarities, the vestigial first
or hind toe, is indicated by its specific name tridactyla (Greek : tri,
thrice ; daktidos, a digit) ; all that usually remains of this toe is a warty
excrescence with a small claw. In all other genera of Gulls it is
developed though short, too short indeed to be of much, if of any, use.
The gap that divides Rissa from Larus, to which genus belong the
species treated in the preceding sections of this chapter, becomes
still more apparent when their young are compared. The down-clad
nestlings of the latter have the head and back more or less con-
spicuously spotted, striped or barred with shades of black, brown, and
buff. The nestling of the kittiwake has the head unspotted white
with a grey tinge, and the back ash-grey, with very faint traces of darker
motilings, which may be regarded, like the hind toe, as vestigial. A
glance at the photograph of the nestling kittiwake on Plate XLIV. (p.

THE KITTIWAKE 185

116), and the nestling common and herring-gulls on Plate XLV. (p. 124),
will make clearer the differences here noted. That the nestlings
of Larus should retain a spotted and striped down is intelligible,
seeing that for the most part they live on the ground, where their
broken and irregular coloration has some protective value, in any
case more protective value than a plumage which has no markings
to break the outline of the body and so render it less conspicuous
against its background. It is also intelligible that the nestling
kittiwake can have no use for a similar coloration on the ledges
of the sea cliffs or caves where it is invariably born, but why it should
have developed its present coloration is at present inexplicable.
The fledgling is also quite unlike those of Larus in certain respects,
notably the dark semi-collar and the black on the wing-coverts.
It is less unlike its parents than are they.

The breeding-range of the kittiwake lies chiefly within the
Arctic Circle ; its colonies are found all along the northern coasts
and islands of America, Asia, and Europe. The largest, perhaps, is
near the North Cape, on the cliffs at Svaerholtklubben, which numbers
some millions, — so many that, when the birds are disturbed by a
gunshot, they look, as they rush from the rock, like "a snowstorm
in a whirlwind." 1 The most northerly known is in Franz-Josef Land,
at about 80° N. latitude, where eggs were recorded by Nan sen and
Collett, but not till after June 17. On June 13 and afterwards single
birds or small parties were observed daily as far north as 82° 20',
wherever there was open water, and by Sverdrup at 84° 52'. They
were met with at 81° up to August 23, arid a few degrees southward
in flocks on the edge of the ice as late as September, and were the
last birds seen in those regions.2 They breed also in the Temperate
Zone, including many localities in our Isles, and in winter range south
to the Tropic of Cancer, and even beyond into equatorial waters.

At their British breeding-haunts they arrive usually in March,

1 R. Collett, Bird Life of Arctic Norway ; Seebohm, British Birds, Hi. 343.
* Collett and Nansen, Nonvegian North Polar Expedition (1893-95) Scientific Results, vol. i,
chap. iv. p. 10.

VOL. III. 2 A

186 THE GULLS

but do not begin building their nests till May. Little has been, so far,
recorded of their habits in the interval. It is, as might be expected,
largely taken up by love-making, and with a certain amount of
fighting arising from disputed claims to nest-sites. The kittiwake's
manner of expressing its love has yet to be studied in satisfactory
detail. I have personally only had opportunities of watching the
species from early May, when it begins nest-building, till August.
All I can find stated about its love-gestures previous to May is
summed up under the general terms "billing" and " cooing," which
lack precision, especially the latter. But as it is highly unlikely that
the love-gestures of the birds in the early part of the season differ
from those they make later, what is here said of the latter may be
regarded as applying equally to the former.

Kittiwakes are very demonstrative in their affection. Mated
birds may often be seen facing one another and uttering excitedly,
as if their conjugal happiness depended upon it, the familiar kitti-
way-eks, which give the species its name, and which may easily be
imitated by pronouncing the word as would a parrot. They may
accompany this outpouring with a variety of gesture. One pair,
for instance, after bending down their heads, and, with beaks wide
open and tongue conspicuous between the mandibles, kittiwaking on
to the bare rock, levelled their heads and necks and kittiwaked at
one another, and finally raised them and kittiwaked to the heavens.
During the performance the neck was also moved from side to side, so
that every point of the compass was favoured with the sound of their
voices. This was on August 15, at the end of the breeding season.
Again, they may often be seen rubbing beaks, in other words billing,
and following the same by ecstatic kittiwaking, usually with the heads
bent downward in the regurgitative manner common among other
species of Gull. The wings are sometimes opened, sometimes closed,
during these performances. The same outbursts of kittiwakes may
follow the return of one of a pair to the ledge where its mate is
keeping guard or incubating. One may often, indeed, tell when the

THE KITTIWAKE 187

return is about to take place by watching the bird on the ledges.
Before its mate actually alights, while it is still some yards away,
it will suddenly open wide its beak, and kittiwake a hearty welcome,
at the same time displaying the brilliant orange hue of the inside of
its mouth, brilliant, indeed, like the inside of a flame-coloured
flower, delicate as fine porcelain, and made all the more gorgeous
by its contrast with the yellow bill and the soft whites and greys
of the plumage. The kittiwake, indeed, and many another bird
have this advantage over us, that when they open their mouths to
their mates there is at least something worth seeing if not worth
hearing.

The most singular of the domestic amenities of kitti wakes — if
one may for the moment class it as such — takes the form of a peculiar
swallowing action that makes itself very visible externally, and gives
the bird the appearance of trying to gulp down something that, if left
to itself, would come out. A pair may often be seen for several seconds
facing, but not touching, each other and "gulping" The action is
sometimes accompanied by bowing and sometimes by kittiwaking.
At Bempton, in May, it occurred frequently after the kittiwaking
which accompanied the return of a bird to its mate on the nest ledge.
On one occasion one seemed to disgorge, the other gulped, but neither
on this nor on other occasions did I see anything in the nature of food
or feeding. Like the other actions above described, except, of course,
the billing, it is as often performed by birds when alone as when with
their mates. It therefore represents a state of feeling which does not
need the stimulus of another bird's presence. But what this state
of feeling may be I do not know. The action itself originates, without
doubt, in the actual swallowing movements made by both old and
young, which will be described later.

Besides the kittiwake already mentioned, the species utters at
least two notes, probably more. One is a clear, somewhat metallic
sound, more or less like " uck, uck, uck'' I have heard it preceding the
kittiwake, and it corresponds no doubt to that figured by Naumann as

188 THE GULLS

"dock"! 1 It is also used by itself. The second is a petulant little infan-
tile note, which I find figured in one of my note-books as keee-kee-ke,
in another as kwee-kiouh, neither of which, however, recalls to me even
faintly the actual sound. I have heard it following an outburst of
kittiwakes, and also interspersed among them. It was uttered by
birds when collecting nest material on the cliff, and by one was
intended to be a menace. It was also uttered by birds on the wing.
According to Naumann, it is heard only at the breeding-place. The
meaning to be attached to this and the other two notes has yet to be
precisely determined. The same, indeed, may be said of the notes of
all the Gulls.

Nest-building begins in the first half of May, or later according to
the latitude. At the Flamborough colonies the bird had in 1911 already
set to work by May 9. Any ledge on the face of a cliff large enough
to accommodate the nest will satisfy a kittiwake. If there are remains
of the old nest, the new is built upon it, and this again, if not all
washed away by wind and rain, may provide a foundation for the
next season's nest. In time, therefore, the structure may assume large
dimensions. As a rule, however, nests do not survive the winter,
though they are substantial structures. They are built mainly of
compressed mud and seaweed or grass, and lined with finer material,
usually grass, which is frequently added to during the course of the
season. The sides of the nest become thickly saturated with the bird's
excreta. One nest I saw at the Bass Rock in August had hanging
over the edge of it a dead kittiwake, so coated with white excreta
that it looked like a petrified bird.

Both sexes share in the building of the nest, and their method of
working, which I had ample opportunities of watching at Bempton, is
much more thorough than that of other Gulls. One bird usually remains
on the ledge while the other flies off for material, which it finds either
on the sea, the shore, or the earth-covered places on the face or top
of the cliff'. At Bempton I saw, at a distance of a few yards, half
a dozen birds and more at a time on a wet clayey patch near the top

1 Viiyel Mitteleuropas, xi. 290.

THE KITTIWAKE 189

of the cliff, into which they dug the clean yellow bills until loaded and
coated with mud. With this, or with tuft of grass tugged up by the
roots, they flew off to their ledge, where they were welcomed with loud
Tdtti-way-eks by their mates. Each on alighting dropped its contribution,
or, in the case of the more adhesive mud, shook it off and out of the
beak on to the growing nest, but sometimes so energetically that bits
were jerked over the edge of the ledge down into the sea. The bird
then trod the addition in with alternate movements of the feet, and
also from time to time pressed it down with the breast. The treading
process lasted several seconds at a time, the little builder being
evidently determined to make the structure cohesive and solid. Its
mate waited generally a few seconds to see the work well started, and
then flew off for material, returning to be greeted in the same way.
Sometimes the same bird went mud or grass hunting two or three
times in succession. Sometimes one would go off on a jaunt, or on
a feeding excursion, or drop down to the sea either to bathe or to
clean its muddy beak, which it did by rubbing it with its feet and
splashing it about in the water. Again, at times, a flock of birds
together would suddenly and simultaneously cease work and fly out
to sea a hundred yards or so, the outflight, like the sudden up-flights
of the blackheaded-gulls (p. 144), being silent, while the return was all
noise and excitement — a winged storm of kitti-way-eks !

The kittiwake frequently breeds on the same cliff with other
species, usually guillemots and razorbills, also with gannets. The
relative nesting-position of these species is no doubt primarily deter-
mined on each cliff face by the character of the rocky surface ; the
broad open ledges, wherever they are, are usually occupied by guille-
mots, the crevices by razorbills and perhaps puffins, while the kitti-
wakes are seen on the little irregular scattered ledges, whether high
up or low enough to be reached by the uptossed spray of the sea.
But there is no hard and fast rule. Guillemots or razorbills may be
found nesting in just the places one would expect to find kitti wakes,
and vice versa. I have seen the kitti wakes on the same ledge with
guillemots. They have been observed to occupy, as a rule, the lowest

190

THE GULLS

positions on the cliff. This is the case at the Bass Rock, but at the
Flamborough cliffs (Bempton) in Yorkshire, where I paid particular
attention to the point, I did not find it so. The relative position of
kittiwakes and guillemots on two of these cliff faces is shown by the
following diagrams.

CLIFF A

Guillemots (few scattered pairs)

Kittiwakes
Kittiwakes

Kittiwakes

Kittiwakes
Guillemots on ledge

% Kittiwafccs

Kittiwakes
Kittiwakes

Guillemots (forty on a ledge)

Guillemots (six on a ledge)

Guillemots (sixteen on a ledge)

CLIFF B

Guillemots

Guillemots (scattered)
Kittiwakes

Kittiwakes
Kittiwakes

KittiwaUcs

Guillemots
Guillemots

Guillemots

Kiltiwakes

Guillemots
Guillemots

DIAGRAMS TO SHOW BELATIVE POSITIONS OF KITTIWAKES AND
GUILLEMOTS ON TWO CLIFF FACES AT BEMPTON, YOEKS.

THE KITTIWAKE 191

On both these cliffs the guillemots occupy the lowest and the
highest places. In the case of Cliff A, this was simply due to the
presence of large ledges near its base.1

A discovery forced upon my notice at these same cliffs, was that
the kittiwakes nested only on their southerly or south-easterly faces :
I was nowhere able to watch them without fronting a biting north-
easterly wind. The guillemots and razorbills were quite indifferent
as to aspect, a fact which made watching them in the early part of
the year a matter of comparative comfort, as one could sit so as to be
sheltered from wind and rain. On the Bass Hock, however, they nest
on ledges facing all aspects, but chiefly south-east and north-west.

Laying begins toward the end of May, both sexes sharing in
incubation, which lasts from three to four weeks. As is the case with
many other species, there are usually a certain number of non-
breeding adult pairs and single birds, which cannot apparently find
room to nest, but exact information on this matter is still wanting.
That these birds, or some of them, are willing to assume the duties
of parenthood was shown by Faber, who removed a pair from a nest
containing eggs, which were thereupon incubated by another pair,
and the young hatched and reared. He found the same to be the
case with puffins, guillemots, little-auks, and others (Fratercula, Uria,
Mergulus)?

The young are fed by both parents on regurgitated food. The
young bird shows its desire for food in a somewhat curious fashion ;
it stands in its usual position, but with the head and neck contracted
or drawn back between the shoulders. The head and beak are tilted
slightly up, and bobbed up and down with a regular automatic
action, that gives the bird somewhat the appearance of being a child's
toy worked by internal mechanism. Usually the young kittiwake
interrupts the movement from time to time to make a dab with

1 Some years ago Mr. Jourdain noted that on the Bempton and Speeton Cliffs the kitti-
wakes nested on the lowest ledges, none high up.

2 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xi. 293. For examples of the same habit among Passerine
species, see above vol. i. 54, 55.

192 THE GULLS

its beak at the beak of the parent. On one occasion I saw one
adult and two young, all three side by side, and facing the rock
face. Both the young were bobbing their heads, and the one nearest
the parent bird turned at intervals to peck lightly at its beak. The
second, however, kept on bobbing at the rock face, and continued this
unprofitable exercise for some minutes before it turned to make a
dab which did not even reach its mark. At the same time, on a
lower ledge, another young bird kept on bobbing to the rock
without once turning its head, while near by its parent stood preening
itself. They were both at it some minutes later, one bobbing, the
other preening, and I left them at it. The young will also bob in the
same way when no other bird is near.

The actual feeding of the young by the parent I will illustrate
by a fairly typical incident, noted at the time of its occurrence.
A young bird was standing in front of its mother — it may have been
the father — bobbing its head, occasionally making dabs at her beak.
At length she opened her beak, and the young put its beak and the
front part of its head inside and felt about. It seemed to get a small
amount of something out of her throat and swallowed it down. After
two or three more similar attempts, it pulled out what seemed like
a large sand-eel, which I saw distinctly in its beak, and which it took
some time to swallow down. It then continued to bob and dab.

The parent, as far as my observation extends, does not disgorge the
food ; it brings it up the gullet far enough to be reached by the young,
and, frequently, it appears unable or unwilling to keep it in position,
for the attempt is followed by visible gulping movements, which
are similar to the movements of the young when actually swallowing.
These swallowing movements resemble those already described pro-
visionally as domestic amenities (p. 187). How or why the act of
swallowing should have come to serve, as appears to be the case,
the secondary or derived purpose of a gesture, and why this should
have occurred rather in the case of the kittiwake than of other
species, is difficult to divine.

Plate 108

Kittiwakes

By A. W. Seaby

THE KITTIWAKE 193

Like other seabirds, kittiwakes go long distances for the food
which they give to their young. It consists chiefly of small fish and
crustaceans, which form also the main diet of the parents. The
birds recorded by Collett and Nansen in the North Polar regions
round Franz-Josef Land fed upon floating crustaceans, darting down
upon them " with a dull splash against the surface of the water."
Saxby found fresh- water weeds and a few beetles, probably picked up
with the weeds, in the stomachs of birds he shot, but, this apart, the
species appears to confine its diet to marine organisms. In this it
differs from the species ofLarw, which are omnivorous. It also differs
from them in its method of catching fish. While they are content to
sweep down to the water, and immerse only head and neck, it drops
in head first, like a tern or gannet, from a height of twenty feet or so,
cleaves the surface with a splash, and usually disappears completely
from sight. It has been seen by Mr. H. Evans winging its way under
the water.1

When the kittiwake pauses in its flight before dropping, it keeps
its head windward. In consequence of this habit, flocks, when follow-
ing a shoal of fish, work their way through it till they reach its
windward side, and then make a wide flight back, and begin once
more on the leeward margin.2

In August the young kittiwakes quit the cliffs, and are then to
be seen in the neighbouring waters usually in flocks by themselves,
with sometimes a few old birds among them. The gregarious instinct,
therefore, asserts itself early. That it should at first take the form of
association with birds of the same age is probably due to weakness of
wing, the young birds not being able to follow the old long distances
out to sea.

At this stage the young are seized and eaten by the larger Gulls,
as already noted (p. 168), and the sight of one of these soft, dove-like
creatures strangled and pick-axed by the strong hard beak of its

1 J. H. Harvie-Brown and T. E. Buckley, Fauna of Argyll and the Inner Hebrides, p. 194.

2 Saxby, Birds of Shetland, p. 330.

VOL. III. 2B

194 THE GULLS

relentless murderer is among the most revolting and gruesome that
Nature has to offer. The old birds are persecuted by the Skuas, and
no doubt also at times fall victims to large Gulls and Hawks. Thou-
sands used to be slaughtered for the decoration of ladies' hats, but
fortunately the law stepped in to check this murderous form of
feminine weakness, with the result that there are fewer dead kitti-
wakes in the shops and more alive on the sea.

Old and young quit their breeding-haunts towards the end of
August, and are subsequently found all round our coasts and out to
sea, sometimes in huge flocks. They are not, as far as I know, found
inland except when storm-driven. Many are so worn out by heavy
gales that they succumb, and their bodies are tossed ashore sometimes
in hundreds — a feast for hungry Gulls and Crows.

Egg Plate F

1. Nightjar, 2 figures 4. Puffin, 1 figure

2. Hoopoe, 1 figure 5. Razorbill, 3 figures

3. Pallas's sandgrouse, 2 figures 6. Black-guillemot, 2 figures

Egg Plate G

Guillemot, 5 figures

V * '* •••*<•* « • i

- **"•'"

y wmm

Egg Plate H

By H. G-ronvold

1. Roseate-tern 4. Arctic-tern

2. Common-tern 5. Sandwich-tern

3. Little-tern 6. Black-tern

Egg Plate I

By H. Gronvold

1. Blackheaded-gull 3. Herring-gull

2. Common-gull 4. Lesser blackbacked-gull

•*' !*fc> f

&m

'jfciBl 4

•- *v Miir w •<•' * '

f'^

»:

Egg Plate J

By H. Grbnvold

1. Kittiwake 3. Arctic-skua

2. Great blackbacked-gull 4. Great-skua

* • .' *

•« A '* '13

V "

Kirknian. F
The Brit 1

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