The Common Gull is rather a large species, being more than eighteen inches in length when full grown. Its plumage is pearly grey above and white beneath; the largest wing feathers are black, with white tips and white spots near the tip; and the bill and feet are greenish grey. This bird breeds in the salt marshes or on the ledges of cliffs. The female lays two or three eggs, which are olive brown, with dark brown and black spots. It is a very pretty sight to watch from the top of a lofty cliff the multitudes of these birds that often haunt our coasts; gliding with beautiful ease and swiftness through the air, skimming the surface of the water in pursuit of their prey, or reposing upon its bosom. Even their rather harsh and discordant cry is in harmony with the wild and imposing heights on which they love to dwell. This, however, does not protect them from the frequenters of our seaside towns, with whom seagull shooting is a favourite amusement; an amusement the more to be reprehended as the flesh of the bird is quite useless. Gulls are frequently caught alive, and, after having their wings clipped to prevent their escape, are kept to satisfy their voracious appetite on snails, slugs, and other garden pests. [Illustration: THE STORMY PETREL, OR MOTHER CARY’S CHICKEN. (_Thalassidroma pelagica._)] “O’er the deep! o’er the deep! Where the whale, and the shark, and the sword-fish sleep, Outflying the blast and the driving rain, The petrel telleth her tale in vain; For the mariner curseth the warning bird, Who bringeth him news of the storm unheard! Oh! thus does the prophet, of good or ill, Meet hate from creatures he serveth still; Yet he ne’er falters:--So, Petrel! spring Once more o’er the waves on thy stormy wing.” PROCTER.