Herring Gull 273 



Gulls are greedy creatures. No sooner will 

 one member of a flock swoop down upon a 

 morsel of food, than a horde of hungry com- 

 panions, in hot pursuit, chase after him to try 

 to frighten him into dropping his dinner. With 

 a harsh, laughing cry, akak, kak, akak, kak, kak, 

 they wheel and float about a feeding ground 

 for hours at a time. 



And they fly incredibly far and fast. A 

 flock that has followed an ocean greyhound all 

 day will settle down to sleep at night " bedded" 

 on the rolling water Hke ducks while "rocked 

 in the cradle of the deep." After a rest that 

 may last till dawn, they rise refreshed, fly in 

 the direction of the vanished cteamer and 

 actually overtake it with apparent ease in time 

 to pick up the scraps from the breakfast table. 

 Reliable sailors say the same birds follow a ship 

 from our shores all the way across the Atlantic. 



