. Baby birds at home . and slow-worms, whichare more easily overtaken and feeding it will sit motionless for hourson some jutting crag in the face of a cliff,or on the branch of a tree. When on thewing it has a habit of sailing round andround in majestic circles, at a great height,and uttering its plaintive catlike mewingcry. It makes its nest of sticks and twigs,frequently lining it with green leaves, or bitsof wool The structure is placed in the forkor on the horizontal branch of a tree andsometimes on a ledge in the face of a the old nest of a carrion crowis
. Baby birds at home . and slow-worms, whichare more easily overtaken and feeding it will sit motionless for hourson some jutting crag in the face of a cliff,or on the branch of a tree. When on thewing it has a habit of sailing round andround in majestic circles, at a great height,and uttering its plaintive catlike mewingcry. It makes its nest of sticks and twigs,frequently lining it with green leaves, or bitsof wool The structure is placed in the forkor on the horizontal branch of a tree andsometimes on a ledge in the face of a the old nest of a carrion crowis utilised. The eggs number from two to fourand are variable in colour. Some speci-mens are dingy white and without spots,whilst others are greenish or bluish white,spotted, blotched and streaked with reddishbrown. The chicks are covered with beautifulwhite down when hatched. They leave thenest before they can fly very far, and evenw^hen they are strong on the wing follow theirparents about for some time after BLACK-HEADED GULLS. The Black-headed Gull THIS is perhaps the best known of allour sea-gulls. The facts that it nearlyalways breeds inland, and visits our harboursand tidal rivers in great numbers during thewinter months, give nearly everybody anample opportunity of studying it duringsome periods of the year. In the severewinter of 1895 numbers of these birds foundtheir way up the river Thames into the veryheart of London, and were so well treated byinterested spectators, who fed them uponscraps of fish, shrimps, biscuits, and bits ofbread and cheese, that they have visitedthe metropolis regularly ever since. The black or, to be more accurate, darkbrown hood from which the bird has receivedits common name, is only a breeding seasondecoration. In the winter the head is white,except for a tinge of grey at the back anda darkish grey patch behind the feathers that cover the ear. 119 120 Baby Birds at Home Throughout the greater part of the yearthe Black-headed Gull f
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirdsju, bookyear1912
