168. LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. _Larus fuscus_, Linnaeus. French, "Goeland à pieds jaunes."--The Lesser Black-backed Gull is common in the Islands, remaining throughout the year and breeding in certain places. None of these birds breed in Guernsey itself, or on the mainland of Sark, and very few, if any, on Alderney. A few may be seen, from time to time, wandering about all the Islands during the breeding-season; but these are either immature birds or wanderers from their own breeding-stations. About Sark a few pairs breed on Le Tas[33] and one or two other outlying islets; their principal breeding-stations, however, appear to be on the small rocky islands to the north of Herm, on all of which, as far out as the Amfrocques, we found considerable numbers breeding, or rather attempting to do so; for this summer, 1878, having been generally fine, all these rocks were tolerably easily landed on, and the fishermen had robbed the Lesser Black-backs to an extent which threatens some day to exterminate them, in spite of the Guernsey Bird Act, which professes to protect the eggs as well as the birds; but a far better protection for these poor Black-backs is a roughish summer, when landing on these islands is by no means safe or pleasant, and frequently impossible. On Burhou, near Alderney, there are also a considerable number of Lesser Black-backs breeding, though they fare quite as badly from the Alderney and French fishermen as those on the Amfrocques and other islands north of them do from the Guernsey fishermen. On all these islands the nests of the Lesser Black-backs were placed amongst the bracken, sea stock, thrift, &c, which grew amongst the rocks, and on the shallow soil which had collected in places. When I was at Burhou in 1876 I found Lesser Black-backs breeding all over the Island, some of the nests being placed on the low rocks, some amongst the bracken and thrift; so thickly scattered amongst the bracken were the nests, that one had to be very careful in walking for fear of treading on the nests and breaking the eggs. On this Island there is an old deserted cottage, sometimes used as a shelter by the lessees of the Island, who go over there to shoot a few wretched rabbits which pick up a precarious subsistence by feeding on the scanty herbage; on the roof of this cottage several of the Lesser Black-backs perched themselves 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