1902 The Gulls of Tivig7ii07'e Warren 199 



falling like snowflakes. Their exit from the water is one 

 of the strangest things in nature. They reach the surface, 

 the skin cracks, the winged insects drag themselves out and 

 fly away, all within the space of ten seconds. No such 

 rapid transformation is known elsewhere. That may-flies 

 are eminently fitted for the battle of life is shown by the 

 prodigious number sent forth yearly, some of the swarms 

 consisting of many millions. It is said that in certain 

 species there are as many as five thousand males to a 

 single female. 



The dances of may-flies have been celebrated by prose 

 writers and b}' poets. D'Albertis, who saw vast swarms in 

 New Guinea, says that "for miles the surface of the river, 

 from side to side, was white with them as they hung over 

 it with gauzy wings ; at other moments, obeying some 

 mysterious signal, they would rise in the air, and then 

 sink down anew like a fall of snow." It has been sug- 

 gested that the peculiar eyes of may-flies have been 

 specially conferred for the enjoyment of these aerial evolu- 

 tions. One species found in Ceylon is a flying lantern, the 

 whole of its body being luminous. Another displays a faint 

 blue light after sunset. 



The Gulls of Twigmore Warren. 



By A. E. Johnson. 



The gregarious instinct of most sea-birds during the breed- 

 ing season, and the unfailing regularity with which they 

 return, year after year, to certain favoured spots for matri- 

 monial purposes, is a matter of common knowledge. As a 

 rule, these familiar haunts are situated, as one would 

 naturally expect, in close proximity to the ocean, — either 

 upon some sea-girt islet or rock, or upon the face of a 

 precipitous cliff. A special interest, therefore, attaches to 

 the habit peculiar to certain species of marine fowl of 

 repairing to various inland retreats during the breeding 

 season. 



