THE HERRING GULL 253 



poor captives torn to pieces before the fisliermen can take 

 them from the toils. As its name implies, the Herring Gull 

 feeds largely on fish, and never fails to betray the where- 

 abouts of the shoal to the anxious fishermen. On the beach 

 and mudflats, where it walks about in a singularly graceful 

 manner, it searches for any marine animals that may chance 

 to be washed up by the tide or left in the little pools of 

 water amongst the rocks, its strong powerful beak enabling 

 it to tear and break most objects it may attack. Crabs, 

 crustaceans, mussels, limpets, are all eaten by the Herring 

 Gull ; and it persistently attends the fishing smacks, to prey 

 upon the refuse of all kinds thrown overboard. It may 

 well be described as the Eaven of the ocean — like that 

 bird it is almost omnivorous. It is rather quarrelsome, and 

 may often be seen fighting with its congeners over scraps of 

 food, or even robbing the smaller Gulls and Terns of their 

 hard-earned spoil. 



Vast numbers of Herring Gulls frequent the mudflats on 

 the low-lying coasts, mostly of young and immature birds. 

 When on the beach they are shy and wary enough, and 

 when flying from place to place over land they always keep 

 well out of gunshot ; but at sea they are often absurdly 

 tame, and fly round and round a boat within a few feet of 

 the observer's head. The Herring Gull flies slowly and 

 rather laboriously, with regular beat of wing ; but it is 

 capable of performing many graceful evolutions in the air, 

 and when flying with the wind often sweeps along at a great 

 pace, riding, as it were, on the very wings of the storm. Both 

 this and the other species of Gulls often soar to an immense 

 height, wheeling round and round in circles. When fishing, 

 the Herring Gull drops lightly down into the sea like a Tern. 

 It swims well, sitting high and buoyant in the water, and is 

 only driven to land by the roughest weather, 

 i The breeding season ofthe Herring Gull begins in May. The 



