The Lesser Black-Backed Gull — Larus Fuscus, Linnæus
Very closely allied to the Herring Gull, this species is tolerably common everywhere, but is rather more local in the breeding season. In England it nests but sparingly and only in the west, but in Scotland it becomes much more abundant, and in some districts commits considerable havoc among the game-birds on the moors.
It chooses for its breeding-quarters some grassy slope on the top of the cliffs or on an islet in one of the numerous firths in the west of Scotland. In Ireland it is generally distributed and nests sparingly round the coast. In all its habits this species so closely resembles the Herring Gull that further description is unnecessary.
The adult only differs from the preceding species in being black on the mantle and wing coverts, and in the colour of the legs, which are yellow. Length 22 in.; wing 16 in.
It is almost impossible to distinguish the young of this species in their first autumn.