380 THE GULL. 



sea-shore, we espied a Gull lying motionless on the sand, 

 apparently dead ; but, as its eyes were open, life was clearly 

 not extinct. Suspecting it to be a wounded bird, we alighted 



to examine the extent 

 and nature of the in- 

 juries it had received ; 

 but not a drop of blood 

 was to be seen, neither 

 was a feather ruflled. 

 After having, therefore, 

 handled it for several 

 minutes, without its 

 evincing the slightest 

 symptoms of vitality, be- 

 The Black-backed Gull. yond the opening and 



shutting of its eyes, we threw it into the air, when to our 

 inconceivable surprise, the apparently dead bird expanded its 

 wings, and, tucking up its legs, flew off with the utmost 

 composure and steadiness. 



Nature has amply provided them with means for their wan- 

 dering lives. While the Cormorant is pent up in his cavern, 

 and most of the other sea-birds are driven to their rocks and 

 crags, during heavy gales, it matters as little to the Gull as to 

 the Gannet that the weather be fair or foul. Cold has no 

 effect upon him, provided as he is with a thick coat of the 

 softest down : light, too, as he is, he tops and rides over the 

 waves without an effort ; and his wide wings ensure him a safe 

 conveyance from every peril, save that of the gun, to which he 

 may be exposed. 



They are a very numerous tribe, differing a good deal in 

 their habits, if not in their external features. The king of 

 them all seems to be the Burgomaster (or Glaucous Gull), a 

 name given by the Dutch, being the title of their chief magis- 

 trate, to which, by his conduct, he has a fair claim, for no 

 other Gull dares dispute his authority, when he chooses to 

 exert it. A constant attendant on the whalefishers, whenever 

 they are busied in cutting up a whale, he hovers over the car- 

 case, and having fixed his eye 1 on a choice morsel of blubber or 



