Gull Habits 217 



ture of mud, water, rocks, and clams. It was as bad as 

 a crowd of a thousand noisy newsboys. Such a shoving, 

 clambering, flapping, grabbing! Every clam was gobbled 

 up the minute it struck ground. 



I have often seen the western herring gull act in 

 ways that speak well for his sagacity. On several occa- 

 sions I watched him open clams and mussels. His bill is 

 unfitted for crushing the hard shell. I saw one gull grasp 

 a clam in his bill, rise to a height of thirty feet, and drop 

 it to the hard sand and gravel below. He followed it up 

 closely, but it didn't break. He repeated the same per- 

 formance over fifteen times before he was successful. 



THE GULL FAMILY 



The Gull belongs to the family of long-winged swimmers. They 

 are experts on the wing and they swim lightly on the water. The gulls 

 are common and easily recognized along the sea-coasts. They live on 

 fish and refuse matter picked up about the harbors. 



Herring Gull {Larus argentatus): Male and female, alike; back, deli- 

 cate pearl-gray; head, neck, under parts and tail are pure white. In win- 

 ter, the head and neck are streaked with gray; bill, yellow with red spot 

 near end of lower mandible. Length, about twenty-five inches. Found 

 throughout North America; winters about the harbors and retires to 

 the rocks off the coast and to inland lakes to breed. Nest is a hollow 

 on the ground, lined with grass. Eggs, two or three, from olive-green 

 to brown, irregularly streaked and dotted with dark brown and blackish. 



Western Gull (Larus occidentalis): Same as above, except the coat 

 is slightly darker in color. Found on the Pacific Coast. 



