132 Anthony, Pacific Coast Gulls. [\prii 



the water, and seldom neglected an opportunity to rob the Arctic 

 Tern or Kittiwake. 



In flight all of the species of gulls with which I am familiar habit- 

 ually carry the feet and tarsi extended behind and closely held 

 along the under surface of the tail-coverts; the feet closed so that 

 the toes and tarsus present an appearance of uniform size through- 

 out the length. The cold winds of winter, however, are apt to be 

 felt by bare feet, and when this happens Larus is equal to the occa- 

 sion; one foot is brought up under the body and the feathers on 

 one side of the belly vigorously kicked forward, the foot and tarsus 

 tucked away out of sight and the feathers allowed to fall back into 

 place. This operation consumes three or four seconds, and it is 

 not until the first foot is snugly tucked away that the other is brought 

 forward to undergo the same process. I have repeatedly witnessed 

 this act during cold winds, and often the gull was but a few feet 

 from me, but so neatly are the feet covered that I could never detect 

 the slightest disarrangement of the plumage or other indication of 

 the hidden members after the feathers had resumed their normal 

 position. 



Another feat that I have often witnessed, and as often marveled 

 at, is the ease and grace with which a gull will scratch its head with 

 its foot, or even dislodge a parasite from under its wing with its bill 

 without in any way disturbing its flight. The scratching, which 

 is a very common habit, is accomplished by reaching well back 

 under the wing with the head and forward with the foot, while the 

 wings are held in the normal position and the bird sails. 



During the summer months, when herring are running along the 

 coast of southern and Lower California, their migrations are ac- 

 companied by every sea bird of the region. In the neighborhood 

 of large schools will be found hundreds of Brandt's and Farralone 

 Cormorants, California Brown Pelicans, Western and Heermann's 

 Gulls, as well as several species of terns and shearwaters, that may 

 be found at that season. It is only when the fish are driven to the 

 surface, by predaceous fish from below or by the cormorants and 

 shearwaters — the only birds above mentioned that seek their food 

 by diving — that the gulls can in any way secure them, and even 

 then they would stand but a small chance were it not for the crowded 

 masses that are at such times driven fairlv out of the water. The 



