32 BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



do not allow each other time to eat, but one and all stuff 

 their ' crops ' to the fullest extent, as rapidly as they can. 

 Fish is eaten by preference ; but it is perhaps a less 

 important item in their bill of fare than one might 

 imagine, for they appear to an onlooker to be not 

 over successful in their fishing. Their usual method is 

 to beat slowly along a few hundred yards of shallow 

 water, dropping now and then on a fish near the sur- 

 face ; then to circle round to the beginning of the coiu'se 

 and repeat the evolution, continuing in this way till 

 one of their pounces is successful. A Gull with food, 

 however, has no peace from his ever-hungry companions 

 till the food is swallowed, and even then, if the robber 

 Skua is his pursuer, he may have to disgorge it from 

 his crop. In summer the Herring Gull has much to 

 answer for in the way of egg -stealing. Carrion also 

 forms a lai-ge part of its food, and indeed little comes 

 amiss to it. At times these gulls go inland and feed 

 in. the fields, probing the turnips for grubs. In this 

 latter occupation they do more harm than good, how- 

 ever, by making holes by which rain enters and rots 

 more than the grub would have harmed. 

 ^ The Herring Gull is found round all our coasts at 

 all seasons of the year, and breeds on almost all the 

 cliff-bound portions. Broken-down cliffs suit it best, for 

 it is no lover of narrow ledges. A good, broad ledge, 

 the flat top of a 'stack,' or a portion of cliff' that is 

 little more than a steep grass-slope, are typical sites. 

 Sometimes, indeed, a small colony — for the species is 

 always very gregarious — may be found in a marsh or 

 on an islet in some loch ; but such positions are more 

 typical of some other species of Gulls, which we shall 

 deal with later. The fact that in some parts of 

 America, where Herring Gulls have suffered much perse- 



