LARIDAE—GULLS. 263
mischievous inmate of my garden." On Dec. 23rd and 25th, 1886, " hundreds
of thousands" were seen near the Swin L.V., fishing for sprats (42. viii.)
Mr. J. Gurney Barclay has given (23. 1138) an interesting account of a tame
pair which bred for several successive years in his garden at Walthamstow.
Lesser Black-backed Gull: Larus fuscus. Locally, " Great
Cob " and " Saddleback.'"
A common visitor to our coast from autumn to spring, and some-
times blown inland by severe storms.
Round Sudbury, King describes it (20) as " rather uncommon." Mr. Bond
met with a few at Southend early in Sept., 1842 (23. 40). At Harwich, it is not
common, though some are seen every autumn (Kerry). On the Old Hall Marshes,
Tollesbury, on June 12th, 1888, Mr. Fitch and myself observed about twenty large
Gulls, probably of this species. The keepers who called them " Great Cobs," to
distinguish them from the more common Black-headed Gulls, which are invariably
known as " Cobs," said they had been blown there by the strong south-easterly
breeze, and that they would not remain. It is hard to say whence they could have
come at that time of the year, as there is no recorded breeding-place on the East
coast south of Northumberland. A curious specimen, shot by Mr. A. C. Marriott,
on Dovercourt Beach, on Oct. 3rd, 1881 (40. vi. 70), had one leg yellow, the other
flesh-coloured.
Common Gull: Larus canus.
A common winter visitor, and said formerly to have been a resi-
dent, breeding on the coast; but it certainly does not do so now, and
the correctness of the statement is doubtful.
Edward Doubleday says (15) he has met with it at Epping "in a very
exhausted state after long stormy weather." Around Sudbury, King says (20)
that it is " common during floods." More, in 1865, says (33. 453) : "On the
east coast of England, the Rev. I. C. Atkinson assures me that the Common Gull
breeds in the Essex Marshes, where it is rare." In making this statement, Mr.
More was, almost certainly, in error, though he might have been correct had he
said " bred formerly," instead of " breeds;" for Mr. Atkinson writes me that in his
boyhood it nested commonly on the Wigborough and Peldon Marshes, or rather
Saltings, where he found dozens of nests sixty years ago. Yarrell, too, says
(25. iii. 571) :
" Both in Kent and Essex, where those counties bound the estuaries of the
Thames, this Gull is to be seen throughout the year on the sandy flats and bars,
picking up as food any refuse animal matter the tide may bring. * * * Here, as
well as on other parts of the coast which are flat, the Common Gull breeds in
marshes, or on flat islands, while on other districts, to be hereafter named, it breeds
on high rocks."
Morris also says (27a. vi. 172) they are common " in Kent and Essex by the
sides of the Thames." It certainly does not now breed with us ; indeed Mr.
Howard Saunders has pointed out to me the great improbability of the truth of
the statement that this species has ever bred on the Essex coast, or anywhere in
the south of England. At the present time, there is no known breeding-station
south of the Scottish border. The above statements seem to rest mainly on the
authority of the Rev. J. C. Atkinson, though Yarrell appears to assert that the
species breeds on the coast from his own observation, and Morris clearly quotes
him. With all respect to both Mr. Yarrell and Mr. Atkinson, I cannot help thinking