THE HERRING GULL. 



" The low bare flats at ebb-tide, the rush of the sea at flood, 

 Through inlet and creek and river, from dike to upland wood ; 

 The gulls in the red of morning, the fish-hawk's rise and fall. 

 The drift of the fog in moon-shine, over the dark coast-wall." 



— John G. Whittier, Marguerite. 



The best known of all sea gulls is the herring gull. He 

 ranges from the warm regions in winter to the Arctic Circle 

 in summer, inland and coastwise, in both eastern and western 

 hemispheres. 



On the Pacific the American herring gull is duplicated by a 

 relative, so nearly similar in size and color that only a scientist 

 could mark the difference, and he associates with the Western 

 gull, of the same size and appearance but with a slightly darker 

 mantle. 



Even those who live in the largest cities know the herring 

 gull as he flies up and down the channels among the shipping, 

 or floats lightly in the citj^ reservoirs, a winter visitor who 

 finds it easier to make a living near city wharves than in the 

 open sea. In summer he is up and away, far to the North, to 

 the ledges along the coast of Maine and Labrador, or to the 

 Great Lakes in the interior. Along the Maine coast, however, 

 there is usually an abundance of herring gulls in summer, and 

 at one place their numbers have become a proverb. " As thick 

 as the gulls at Eastport " is not an uncommon saying for num- 

 bers beyond computation. 



Indeed, it is a beautiful sight at times to see the immense 

 numbers of gulls that throng "Quoddy Bay," as Passama- 



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