62 The Story of a Black-headed Gull. 



when received, he did not approve of being confined to the 

 lawn with a clipped wing, and made sundry attempts to escape 

 into the larger freedom outside the grounds. All his 

 attempts in this direction proved futile, as his fame had 

 rapidly spread, and he was invariably brought back by some 

 wayfarer, who had met him ion 'the high road isometimes a coii- 

 sidierable distance fromj home. This restlessness, however, 

 ceased suddenly, land for ever, after a terrible adventure which 

 befell him one bitter winter day. A deep earthenware pan 

 of fresh Water had been placed in the run and Barred Head 

 leaped on to the rim, and thence into the water, where he 

 splashed about happily until the pan was nearly empty. That 

 proved his undoing. For, alas ! with the water nearly all 

 gone, and the sides of the pan nearly perpendicular, and very 

 slimy and slippery, he could not get out. There was nothing 

 to afford purchase for his feet and there he had to remain 

 for, I suppose, many long hours, before he was discovered. 

 To add to his distress it was freezing hard, and only the in- 

 cessant movement of his little feet kept the water from freez- 

 ing as liard as a rock. WTien I found him, his case seemed 

 hopeless. He Xvas lying on one side, unable to move and 

 quite paralysed by the biting cold. I lifted him gently and 

 carried him, apparently lifeless, indoors, and placed him in 

 a warn', flannel-lined basket by a good fire. The heat restored 

 the arrested vitality in his poor little legs, and he slowly re- 

 covered, and presently was able to totter weakly about. The 

 immediate effect of this dreadful experience was to eliminate 

 all desire to escape, and he gave his parole dhonnear not to 

 try again. Thenceforward he settled down quite happily and 

 contentedly on the lawn, and, as if to show his gratitude for 

 the tender care and nursing he had received, he became most 

 friendly and sociable. He would run and meet me the moment 

 I called himl and did all in his power to show that he was 

 my pal — staunch and true. 



During the tiay he ran loose about the lawn and 

 gardens and indulged in frec|uent bathing in a large shallow 

 tank, kept for the use lof my waders. But always, at dusk — or 

 rather an hour bef|ore dusk — he went^ of his own accord, into 

 a large, enclosed run, where he spent the night. 



According to my experience Black-headed Gulls are 



