2 2 2 Mackay oil the Herring Gull. fJ^ly 



served, and watch those birds which live 'along shore,' as such 

 have had their wits sharpened, and evidently have learned that 

 "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty-" As a result one be- 

 comes acquainted with a most wary, ingenious, and observing 

 bird, ever on the alert to avail itself of all opportunities thrown 

 in its way for obtaining food as well as to preserve its own 

 safet}'. 



This Gull appears on the New England coast early in Septem- 

 ber, and at times a few the very last part of August, becoming 

 more abundant as the season advances and colder weather 

 approaches. They mostly depart for the north during the first 

 half of April although a few remain until about tlie time the 

 herring depart, say June i. After coming south from the north 

 in the autumn they distribute themselves along the seaboard, ap- 

 parently in communities, attaching themselves to such localities 

 as they may select for their home while here, and as a rule they 

 do not afterwards, I think, leave their accustomed range. I have 

 noticed repeatedly what I have taken to be the same birds daily 

 flying along the line of beach during high water, afterwards 

 going to the flats when they became uncovered by the tide, and 

 finally to the same shoal to roost. 



I cite as an instance of their ingenuity that in winter I have 

 seen them carry up in their bills, to a height of twenty-five to 

 thirty-five feet, into the air, a large sea clam i^Mactra solidissima 

 Gould) measuring six and a half inches by four and a half, for the 

 purpose of breaking the shell (that they might avail themselves 

 of the contents for food) by dropping it on the hard beach. I 

 have seen them carry up the same clam four times when it failed 

 to break on account of insuflicient height; but they will carry 

 them up higher after several ineffectual attempts and thus obtain 

 the desired result; they also carry up scallops {Pecten concentri- 

 cus) and mussels {Modiola modiohcs). The American Crow 

 ( Corvus amerlcanus) also has the same habit. That they usu- 

 ally succeed seems certain, for I have seen them eating them, and 

 have noticed the broken shells, minus the contents, lying on the 

 beach, surrounded by their tracks. They vary this mode of pro- 

 ceeding in some places by carrying and dropping the clams on a 

 cake of ice, or on a rock. 



They are anything but particular in the selection of their food, 

 for to them 'all is fish that cometh to net.' T have known both 



