Page:Cassell's book of birds (IA cassellsbookofbi04breh).pdf/219

 During winter the Herring Gulls spread themselves along the coast, especially frequenting the estuaries where young herrings are congregated. "When engaged with a shoal of fry," says Macgillivray, "the Herring Gulls hover over the water, now ascending to a height perhaps of twenty feet, then skimming close over the surface, and on observing an object, stretching upward and vibrating their wings and letting down their feet so as to touch and sometimes pat the water, they pick it up without alighting. Sometimes they plunge partly into the water, and occasionally seize their prey while swimming. All this while they emit now and then a loud and rather shrill cry. They feed on shell-fish, and occasionally large dead fishes, crustaceans, molluscs, echini, &c. During the winter and spring they travel inland, seeking for insects, worms, and similar fare, they rest on beaches and headlands, usually lying down, but sometimes standing on one leg."

Audubon observed these birds in great numbers in the Bay of Fundy. "The rocky shores of the islands on which I saw them breeding," says this writer, "are covered with multitudes of sea-urchins, having short greenish spines, which give them the semblance of a ball of moss. At low water, the Herring Gulls frequently devour these animals, thrusting their bill through the shell and sucking its contents. They also take up shells into the air and drop them upon the rocks to break them. We saw one that had met with a very hard mussel, take it up and drop it three times in succession before it succeeded in breaking it, and I was much pleased to see the bird let it fall each succeeding time from a greater height than before." While on Whitehead Island, in the Bay of Fundy, Audubon saw numbers of the nests of these birds on fir-trees, some being placed near the top, others on the middle or lower parts of the trees. He was informed by the proprietor of the district that in his memory these Gulls had built their nests on moss, on open ground, but their nests having been robbed and the birds otherwise annoyed, they had betaken themselves to the thickest parts of the woods, hoping that by placing their nests on the trees they would be out of the reach of their arch-enemy, man. The nest of the Herring Gull, which is frequently placed on ledges of rocks, is usually formed of grass, or any other vegetable matter that may be at hand. The eggs are laid about May: these vary much both in size and colour. The young remain in the nest until they are partially fledged, but at once quit it if alarmed, and frequently take to the water if pursued.

THE LARGE OR GLAUCOUS WHITE-WINGED GULL.

The or  (Larus glaucus) is almost entirely white, with a faint blue tinge upon the back and wing-covers; the primaries are also white, and extend but little beyond the end of the tail. The bill is yellowish white, except upon the inferior angle of the lower mandible, which is reddish orange; the eyes are pale yellow, and legs and feet flesh-red. In winter the head and neck are slightly streaked with dark grey. The length of this species is about thirty inches; the wing measures nine and a half, and the tail eight inches and a half; according to Yarrell, some have been taken that measured thirty-two and thirty-three inches. The White-winged Gull is an inhabitant of the high latitudes, and was found in great numbers by our Arctic voyagers in the Polar Seas, Davis' Straits, and Baffin's Bay, breeding on precipitous rocks and ledges of cliffs. The Glaucous Gull is also common in Russia, on the shores of the Baltic, and has been found in France, Germany, Holland, and various parts of our own and the Irish coast. It visits Shetland about the middle of autumn, and departs about the end of spring. It frequents open bays, and attends fishing-boats a few miles from land, in order to feed upon any refuse that may be thrown overboard. Sometimes, if allured by carrion, it will even venture inland. This Gull is very rapacious, and when deprived of other food will fall upon small birds and eat them. Sir J. Richardson tells us it feeds upon carrion, and during Captain Ross's expedition one specimen when struck disgorged an Auk, and after death another was found in its stomach. In disposition it is shy and inactive, and exhibits little of the