KITES OF THE SEA 109 



Even as hunger frequently drives kites to commit 

 larceny in the farmyard, so does it sometimes turn 

 sea-gulls into birds of prey. 



Mr. W. J. Williams gives an account, in The Irish 

 Naturalist, of a lesser black-headed gull that used to 

 frequent the lake in St. Stephen's Green Park. It 

 was wont to rest on the cornice of a house overlooking 

 the park, till an opportunity presented itself of swoop- 

 ing down and snatching a duckling. It became so 

 expert at this form of poaching that the Board of 

 Works had the marauder executed. Another gull 

 which attacked a duckling was in turn attacked by 

 the parents (a pair of Chilian wigeons) , with such success 

 that the exhausted gull was killed with a stick by one 

 of the Park constables. 



In India gulls do not, I think, venture far inland. 

 The terns regard the inland waters of Hindustan as 

 their preserve. Some people eat gulls. The late 

 Lord Lilford declared that the black-headed species 

 is a good bird for the table. I am not prepared to 

 deny this assertion. I shall not put it to the test, for, 

 in my opinion, gulls should be a feast only for the eyes. 



