100 
HEim^G GULL. 
familiarities. In the breeding season he is accompanied by his 
mate, who will not venture to descend, but remains hovering 
and screaming over him whilst he is feeding below.’ 
These birds utter loud cries at the approach of danger, and 
so become sentinels for other species. 
They fly rather slowly, and at a low height, sweeping down, 
and catching up any prey from the water. They walk about 
much on the sea-beach in search of food. 
This species is very indiscriminate in its choice of food, 
swallowing alike small fish, small crabs, shrimps, Crustacea, 
and mollusks generally, starfish, the eggs of other sea-birds, 
wheat, small birds, rats, mice, cockchaffers, worms, in fact any 
thing eatable. It gives preference, however, when it has a 
choice, to fish, and is very bold in approaching boats and 
nets, so as to have acquired in Italy the name of Fisherman 
—‘Pescatore del onda.’ It is said also to trample the soft 
sand, to bring its prey to the surface. 
In the ‘Naturalist,’ vol. iii, page 2S, George Donaldson, 
Esq. writes of one kept in a garden:—‘At this period, how¬ 
ever, he acquired a taste for Sparrows, and scarcely a day 
passed on which he did not regale himself with four or five 
of them. His system of catching them was this:-—He was 
on the best terms with a number of Pigeons which this 
gentleman had, and as the Sparrows fed along with them, he 
mixed in the group, and by stooping assumed as much as’ 
possible their appearance, and then set at the Sparrow as a 
pointer dog would do his game; the next instant he had his 
prey by the back, and swallowed it without giving it time 
to shut its eyes. The sporting season began with him about 
the middle of July, as the young birds were leaving their 
nests; and as numbers of them were produced in Mr. Kemp’s 
garden, and others came to practise there, they found it very 
slippery ground, for the enemy was upon them in a moment. 
At the expiration of three years, his plumage was assuming 
a lighter shade, although the grey feathers on the under part 
of his body were quite apparent. He pursued his old system 
of snatching and swallowing with great success, and arrived 
at so much perfection in the art that he caught his prey 
often while flying past, and occasionally sprang from the ground, 
and struck a bird down with his wing, which he had no 
difficulty in afterwards capturing. On one occasion, while 
standing near a pump well in the garden, he pounced upon 
a rat, which had come there for the purpose of drinking; it 
