AUKS, GULLS, AND PLOVERS 



33 



PhtlD kt S^haUilic Photo. Co.] 



HERRING-GULL 



So Ciii/eJ Jrom its habit of JoUoivijig the shoals of herrings 



its egg on the leaf of a cocoamit-palm — truly a wonderful site, and still more wonderful when 

 we reflect that it is chosen by one of the Gull Tribe. 



About six species of tern commonly occur in the British Islands, and some five or six 

 other species occasionally visit tlu.-m. 



Skimmers 



The Skimmers aretern-like birds, 

 with a very wide geographical distri- 

 bution, occurring in India, Africa, and 

 North and South America, and re- 

 markable for the very extraordinary 

 form of the beak. The upper jaw is 

 much shorter than the lower, and both 

 are compressed to the thinness of a 

 knife-blade. This beak is associated 

 with, and is probably an adaptation 

 to, an equally remarkable method of 

 feeding, which has been admirably 

 described by Darwin, who watched 

 them feedinginalakenear Maldonado. 

 "They kept their bills," he says, 

 " wide open, and the lower mandible half buried in the water. Thus skimming the surface, 

 they ploughed it in their course; . . . and it formed a most curious spectacle to behold a flock, 

 each bird leaving its narrow wake on the mirror-like surface. In their flight . . . they 

 dexterously manage with their projecting lower mandible to plough up small fish, which are 

 secured by the upper and shorter half of their scissor-like bills." 



The Gulls 



Gulls arc larger and 

 heavier birds than terns, with 

 longer legs, and shorter, 

 thicker beaks. I'urthermore, 

 with one exception, the tail is 

 never forked. Like the terns, 

 gulls generally breed in 

 colonies, and these are often 

 of large size. Voung gulls, 

 when newly hatched, are quite 

 active. Later, when their 

 feathers have grown, the\- are 

 found to wear a dress quite 

 difterent from that of the 

 parents. Sometimes the adult 

 plumage is gained at the end 

 of the first year of existence, 

 sometimes not until after the 

 third year. Gulls feed on 



everj'thing that comes in their way, from fisli caught swimming at the surface of the sea to 



worms picked up at the plough-tail. 



One of the commonest and best known of all the gulls is perhaps the species known 



as the Black-headed Glll, which has become so common in the heart of busy London, 



where hundreds may be seen, during the winter months, flying up and down the river, or 



Fhota h SihoUitU PJlote. Co.} [Person's Green 



YOUNG HERRINCi GULLS IN THE GREY PHASE OF PLUMAGE 



//; t/u'ir dull grey plumage the young of all gulh are i-ery unlike the adults 



