elves in a row
whilst I was looking about at the eggs, and kept up a most dismal
screaming at the top of their voices. The eggs, as is generally the case
with gulls, varied considerably both in ground colour and marking; some
were freckled all over with small spots--dark brown, purple, or black;
others had larger markings, principally collected at the larger end; the
ground colour was generally blue, green, or dull olive-green. None of
the Gulls had hatched when I was there on the 14th of June, though some
of the eggs were very hard set; and on the 29th of July I received two
young birds which had been taken on Burhou; these still had down on them
when I got them, and were then difficult to tell from young Herring
Gulls. The distinctions I have mentioned in my note of that bird were,
however, apparent, and the slight difference in the colour of the legs
is perhaps more easily seen in the live birds than in skins which have
been kept and faded into "Museum colour." It is some time, however,
before either bird assumes the proper colour, either of the legs or
bill, the change being very gradual. After the autumnal moult of 1878,
however, the dark feathers of the mantle almost entirely took the place
of the brownish feathers of the young birds; the quills, however, have
still (February, 1879) no white tips, and the tail-feathers are still
much mottled with brown. One Lesser Black-back, which I shot near the
Vale Church on the 17th of July, 1866, is perhaps worthy of note as
being in transition, and perhaps a rather abnormal state of change
considering the time of year at which it was shot; it was in a full
state of moult; the new feathers on the head, neck, tail-coverts, and
under parts are white; the tail also is white, except four old feathers,
two on each side not yet moulted, which are much mottled with brown. The
primary quills had not been moulted, and are quite those of the immature
bird, with no white tip whatever. All the new feathers of the back and
wing-coverts are the dark slate-grey of the adult, but the old worn
feathers are the brownish feathers of the young bird; these feathers are
much worn and faded, being a paler brown than is usual in young birds.
The legs and bill are also quite as much in a state of change as the
rest of the bird. Before finishing this notice of the Lesser Black-back
I think it is worth while to notice that it selects quite a different
sort of breeding-place to the Herring Gull; the nest