■S92] Mack AY on ihc Herring Gull. ^2^ 



the adults and young birtls to swallow a dead pollock head first, 

 the estimatetl measure of which was ten inches long by two inches 

 in diameter at the thickest part. They will eat dead ducks with 

 avidity, nev^er missing an opportunity to avail themselves of so 

 satisfactory a meal if thrown in their way ; in fact they seem very 

 fond of animal food when they can procure it. Begiiming at the 

 neck of a duck where it joins the body (if the duck is lying on 

 the beach) they will tear open the tough skin with their strong 

 and sharp bills and clean off the flesh (rejecting the skin and 

 feathers) as if it had been done with a sharp knife. Should the 

 dead bird be floating they will alight beside it and pick it, but 

 they very much prefer to have them on the beach, where it only 

 requires a few minutes to strip it. I have known them to carry a 

 dead Red-breasted Merganser (^Merganser serrator) for nearly 

 a quarter of a mile by stages of about twenty-five yards, holding 

 it by the neck, in order to eat it in security. When a flock of the 

 above birds (^Merganser serrator) are diving and feeding, it is 

 not unusual to see one or more of these Gulls hovering over 

 where the flock is, about ten feet from the water. When a Mer- 

 ganser appears with a fish in its mouth, the Gull will make a rush 

 for it, for the evident purpose of taking it away or making it drop 

 it, at which time the Merganser will frequently dive to avoid the 

 encounter. While I have never actually seen the Gull take the 

 fish away, it being most diflicult at the time to see, yet I am of 

 the belief that he not only makes the Merganser drop it and thus 

 secures the desired end, but that he also takes it out of the bird's 

 mouth. They are also very fond of small Tive eels and fish. I 

 have seen them caught by baiting a hook with the former, which 

 was fastened to six or eight feet of line to which a half brick was 

 attached. This is anchored on some sand flat or shoal which be- 

 comes uncovered at low water. As the tide falls, some one of 

 the Gulls flying about perceives tiie eel, and as soon as it can be 

 reached by putting its head down (for they never dive), the Gull 

 seizes and swallows it. Should the hook catch when it attempts 

 to fly, it will carry the brick up into the air for fifty or sixty 

 yards (a heavier weight would tear out), but after two or three 

 such attempts it becomes exhausted by the eflbrt and can then be 

 easily captured. 



They frequently act as sentinels for the Black Ducks {Anas 

 obscura)^ as do also the Great Black-backed Gulls (^Larus mar- 



