74 OCEAN BIRDS. 



possible, swallowed. Of fish they were inordinately fond, and always kept close at hand 

 if anybody was fishing on the lake, in the hope of getting a roach or dace thrown to them. 

 If we had a rat hunt they invariably joined the dogs, and carried off the dead rats to their 

 favourite bowl of water. On the journey the larger one would start off with his dainty, 

 puffed out with feathers on end like a porcupine, growling and muttering in a fearfully 

 defiant manner, and followed at a respectful distance by his mate. This was all very well ; 

 ])ut they finally took to eating young ducks, chickens, and hen's-eggs ; so were summarily 

 dismissed. Though pinioned, they could fly from the lake up to our house; about two 

 hundred yards. This they always did on being called for their one o'clock meal. 



This species is very common all round our shores, and is perhaps the most numerous 

 of our British Sea Gulls. They are not much appreciated by the fishermen, as they assemble 

 in vast numbers and steal the fish out of the nets in the most barefaced way. Mr. H. Saunders 

 says they are met with in "the North of Europe, the Faroes, the Baltic, Kussia as far east 

 as Archangel, the British Isles, the French coast, and the Canaries." We might therefore 

 frequently fall in with them on the commencement of an outward voyage to Australia. 



In Yarreh's 'British Birds' (vol. iii. p. 467) the bird is thus described: — "The adult 

 bird in summer has the bill yellow, the inferior angle on the lower mandible red ; irides 

 straw-colour ; head, and the whole of the neck all round, pure white ; back, wing-coverts, 

 and all the wing-feathers dark slate-grey, the tips only of some of the longer scapulars 

 and tertials being white, and white tips to the shorter primaries ; upper tail-coverts and 

 tail-feathers white ; breast, belly, and all the under surface of the body and tail, pure white ; 

 legs and feet yellow. The whole length, twenty-three inches ; from the anterior joint of the 

 wing to the end of the longest quill-feather, sixteen inches. In winter the head and neck are 

 streaked with dusky brown. A young male at one year old has the base of the bill pale 

 brown, the rest horny-black; irides dark brown; head, sides and back of the neck white, 

 streaked longitudinally with dusky-brown; back, and all the wing-coverts and the tertials 

 ash-brown, the feathers margined with white, but the shaft of each feather deep brown, 

 forming a dark line down the centre ; primaries and secondaries blackish-brown, without any 

 white at the tips ; upper tail-coverts white, tail-feathers blackish-brown, varied with some 

 white, the central feathers having the most dark colour, the outside ones the most white ; 

 chin and neck in front white ; breast, belly, flanks, and under tail-coverts white, mottled with 

 dusky-brown ; legs and feet light brown." 



Mr. Howard Saunders says : — " The distinguishing characteristics of the adult of this 

 species are its dark slate-coloured mantle, chrome-yellow legs and feet, and the shortness 

 of the foot compared with the tarsus." 



