COMMON GULL. 207 



considerably smaller than the Herring-Gull, which it resembles 

 in its white and French grey plumage. When they can be 

 seen the colours of bill and legs are useful distinguishing 

 characters in gulls ; in the adult Common Gull the bill is 

 greenish yellow, without the splash of red or orange, and the 

 legs are yellowish green. In the flying bird white spots or 

 " mirrors " show near the tips of the two first primaries ; these 

 are not present in the Black-headed Gull or Kittiwake, which 

 approach this species in size. Except for occasional immature 

 birds, distinguished by the black band on the tail, the Common 

 Gull deserts England and Wales in March or April, and as a 

 rule does not return until August, though a few sometimes 

 appear in July. It frequently visits inland waters, by no means 

 only when storm driven, but is never so common away from 

 the sea as the Black-head ; near the coast, however, it may be 

 seen following the plough, or resting, preening its feathers or 

 washing in fresh-water pools, on the cultivated land. 



Like other gulls, this bird is omnivorous, picking up garbage, 

 animal for choice, on the shore, catching small surface- 

 swimming fish, and. searching the sand and banks at low 

 water for molluscs, crustaceans, and worms ; on land it eats 

 earthworms and insects and their larvae, and occasionally a 

 little grain. It will paddle in shallow water or wet sand, 

 dancing or marking time to bring worms to the surface, and is 

 more regular than other gulls in the habit of dropping bivalves 

 in order to smash the closed shell. I have often watched the 

 bird hunting for cockles and rising with one in its beak ; when 

 at a height of from fifteen to thirty feet it will droop the head, 

 hold the wings motionless for a second, and deliberately drop 

 the mollusc on hard sand or rock, stooping at once to recover 

 its treasure. If the shell is not cracked at the first attempt it 

 will try again ; sweeping round until above the same spot, but 

 never, so far as I have seen, rising to a greater height. This 

 lack of reasoning power is strange, for in other ways the 



