GAVI^. ( 275 ) LARID^. 



THE COMMON GULL. 



SEA-MAW, MEW OR MALL, SEED BIRD, GREEN-BILLED GULL. 



Larus canus. 

 %\^z (Bull Sl^ato. 



Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew f 



And, gentle ladye, deign to stay / 

 Rest thee in Castle Ravensheuch, 



Nor tempt the stormy firth to-day. 



The blackening wave is edged with white : 



To inch and rock the sea-mews fly ; 

 The fishers have heard the Water- Sprite, 



Whose screams forebode that wreck is nigh. 



Scott, Lay of the Last Minstrel. 



During the autumn, winter, and spring months the Common 

 Gull occasionally comes in flocks from the sea-coast to the 

 interior of the county, where it frequents land which is 

 being ploughed, and grass fields, feeding upon wojms and 

 grubs. Its sudden appearance inland in large flocks is, 

 however, looked upon by the country people as a sure sign 

 of an approaching storm of wind and rain, and this has given 

 rise to the following rhyme which is sometimes repeated 

 by children in Berwickshire, as well as other parts of 

 Scotland : — 



Sea Gull, Sea Gull, sit on the sand, 



It's never good weather when you're on the land. 



Dr. Henderson of Chirnside, in his Popular Rhymes of 

 Berwickshire, mentions the following curious superstition : 

 Maggie Shaw's Crockie is a broad, flat stone, about a mile 

 to the north of Eyemouth. This stone was placed over the 



