THE HERRING GULL 
ALL winter, a traveler along the seashore sees the great gray 
gulls wheeling gracefully through the air with outstretched wings, 
floating lightly on the water, or sitting in long lines or compact 
masses on the bars or flats which are exposed at low tide. The 
harbors of all the northern seacoast cities are visited in winter by 
numbers of these birds, constantly on the watch for any bits of refuse 
which may be thrown from the wharfs or vessels, or brought down 
by the tides or currents. Their long and powerful wings make 
the flight of even so heavy a bird a sight beautiful to watch, 
and the water looks deserted when the motion and color which the 
gulls furnish is absent. But it is not to the eye alone that the 
birds appeal. 
The ceaseless activity of the gulls in pursuit of floating refuse 
and their inordinate appetite make them invaluable scavengers ; 
without them, the refuse dumped into the water would return at 
each tide to pollute the shore. No idea can be formed of the value 
of the service performed by the gulls, till one sees the countless 
throngs which hover over the dumping grounds in the lower New 
York Bay, awaiting the arrival of the scows with the refuse from 
that city. As the buzzards and vultures are protected in all warm 
countries for their services in devouring carrion, so ought these 
scavengers of the northern seas to be guarded from persecution. 
The adult Herring Gull in full plumage has pure white under- 
parts, head and tail, but a gray mantle, as it is termed, is spread over 
the wings. Young birds, however, show many shades of brown, and 
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