8 THE BIRD WATCHER 
doubt that the same prifftiple governs the motions of 
young and old birds. Of hostility on the part of the 
parents I have seen but little, nor is it necessary ; for 
the young, which are now distinguished by a different 
coloration, both of plumage and bill, making them 
look like another and quite mature species, delight to 
associate together, so that both the rocks and the 
water become the scene of tolerably large gatherings 
of them, at which hardly an old bird is present. As 
the parents of these assemblies are now free from the 
cares of domesticity, it seems as though the reason 
for such a segregation must be of a psychical nature, 
since one can hardly suppose that the dissimilarity of 
plumage has anything to do with it, seeing that young 
and old are as familiar with one another’s appearance 
as with their own. It is the same thing, no doubt, 
with the gulls on this island, but as the whole in- 
terior, or rather the crown of it, is little else than 
their nesting-ground, it would be difficult for the 
younger generation to foregather, without the con- 
straining presence of the elder one. The incon- 
veniences of this may be imagined. Not a remark 
but would be overheard, not a side-glance but would 
be supervised and harshly interpreted, not a giggle 
that would pass unreproved. In these irritating cir- 
cumstances, apparently—this, at least, is my theory 
of it—the young people have migrated en masse, a 
striking proof that, with birds no less than with 
ourselves, 
Crabbed age and youth cannot live together. 
—— 
