. A history of British birds . ills, however, are not thoseof the adult bird, though I should think after another moultthey, as well as the tail-feathers, which still have a few brownmarkings left, would be so. The wing-coverts and mantleare very pale indeed for a Black-back, though much toodark for a Herring Gull. The legs are flesh-colour, likethe Herring Gull, if anything a little brighter and morehighly coloured, now showing no sign of the yellow of theLesser Black-back. Any one shooting it and describing itmight say it was a pale Lesser Black-back with the legsand feet coloured like those
. A history of British birds . ills, however, are not thoseof the adult bird, though I should think after another moultthey, as well as the tail-feathers, which still have a few brownmarkings left, would be so. The wing-coverts and mantleare very pale indeed for a Black-back, though much toodark for a Herring Gull. The legs are flesh-colour, likethe Herring Gull, if anything a little brighter and morehighly coloured, now showing no sign of the yellow of theLesser Black-back. Any one shooting it and describing itmight say it was a pale Lesser Black-back with the legsand feet coloured like those of a Herring Gull, but I do notthink any one would speak of it as a dark Herring Gull(Zool. 1883, p. 174). This bird was shot in the followingMay, and preserved. Owing to tbe inversion of a figure, the year in which tbe Lesser Black-backed Gull was taken from the nest was printed 1879 instead of 1876. If notcorrected, it would appear that this species had hred in its first year. GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 631 GAVI^£. ^^-^^syiy i - \^ 7is V-- \ I . ^a^VP^^ Larus maeinus, Linnseus,* THE GKEAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. Larus marinus. The Great Black-backed Gull, though seen throughoutthe year on various parts of our coast, is uot very numerousas a species, and is frequently observed to he solitary, or inpairs only. Dr. Turner, who Avrote on British ornithologymore than three hundred years ago, calls this Gull a Cob ;and by this name it is still known on the flat shores ofKent and Essex, at the mouth of the Thames, where this * Sjst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 225 (1766). 632 lariDtE. bird remains all the year. From the Authors statement informer Editions, it would appear that in the early part ofthe present century this species used to nest in the marshesabout the estuary of that river; but it has long ceased todo so. At the present day a few scattered pairs breed onthe cliffs of Dorsetshire ; and, in decreasing numbers, onLundy Island, but the Steep Holmes, higher up in theBristol Ch
Size: 1696px × 1474px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorsaun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds
