JOTTINGS AT BniGHTON. 119 



Various species of the Gull tribe, (Laridce,) will be found here, except during 

 the breeding season, when they mostly retire eastward. It is extremely amusing 

 to watch these birds, on a stormy day, when the sea is more than usually 

 rough, sitting calmly on the bosom of the deep, and riding like ships at anchor. 

 Admirable is tlieir coolness! and their self-possession — admirable! for no matter 

 how formidable in appearance an approaching wave may be, if it is not likely 

 to break till after it has passed them, there they sit, sufiFering themselves to 

 be carried 



"up and down, 

 From the base of the wave, to the billow's crown." 



But no sooner does a wave threaten to break upon them, than the moment 

 before it can do so, up they spring, hovering for a few seconds over the spray 

 and foam, till the threatening wave has passed, when each one will be seen 

 quietly to resume its station, "In statu quo." 



The fisherboys here have a cruel method of capturing these birds, which, 

 useful scavengers as they are, ought rather to be protected and encouraged, 

 than persecuted and annoyed. Procuring a piece of fish or ofFal of some sort, 

 they stick a couple of fish-hooks in it, to which they attach a line some 

 twenty or thirty yards in length. This bait, buoyed up by certain pieces of 

 cork, is carried by the receding tide out to sea, as far as the line will permit. 

 A boy having hold of the other end of the line, ensconces himself behind a 

 boat, or other convenient shelter on the beach, looking out for a '^'bite," No 

 sooner does an unfortunate Gull perceive the tempting morsel, than down he 

 sweeps, unconscious of the misery he is about to entail upon himself, seizes 

 and swallows the fatal lurej when he is of course hauled mercilessly to land. 



But it is not by boys alone that these poor birds are persecuted and 

 destroyed, for there are to be found those of mature age, who, if they are 

 not, ought to be, ^'^come to years of discretion," who take pleasure in 

 wantonly shooting them; not because they are in want of specimens, nor from 

 any other justifiable motive, but simply because they consider them good 

 marks, whereon to essay their skill. To such I would humbly suggest, that 

 if they must have a moving object, at which to take aim, a common Gossamer, 

 (Chapeau francaise,) thrown up into the air, is just as good a mark as a com- 

 mon Gull, [Larus canus,) on the wing. They might thus practice shooting 

 flying to any extent, without inflicting pain or misery upon any living creature. 

 The only injury they could inflict, would be upon the hat and the pocket 

 of its owner, while they would confer a positive benefit upon the hat manufacturer. 



I have here more than once seen the common Partridge, {Perdix cinerea,) 

 so completely ^^out of its element," and so perfectly bewildered thereby, as 

 on one occasion to settle amongst a concourse of people assembled on the 

 Pier head, whilst a second continued its course out to sea; and after flying 

 about three furlongs settled, never of course to take wing again, upon the water. 

 Whether oblivious of the nature of that element, and labouring under the 

 delusion that it was going to alight in a green meadow, or whether it sank 



