20 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



eaten and then go back and eat more. I know that they 

 eat grasshoppers for awhile and then fly to the water; 

 but there is no reason for believing that they lose their 

 grasshoppers after drinking. None that I have ever watched 

 lost any. I presume the idea is obtained from the fact 

 that they eat so much that people who knew little of the 

 birds thought it impossible that they digested all. 



As the season advances most varieties of sea gulls fly to 

 Northern United States and northward, where they nest 

 on barren islands. Those who have seen their nesting 

 places say that they have often found thousands of nests on 

 a space of only an acre or two. It is when these birds are 

 going to their nesting grounds that we sometimes see them 

 flying over the central States. I have frequently seen them 

 in Iowa and Nebraska, but have never known them to stay 

 any length of time. In fact, they seldom alight in those 

 States except where there are lakes. Some species nest 

 on the coast of Washington and Oregon, some on our At- 

 lantic coast, while a few nest inland. 



But I had never had an opportunity to know much about 

 sea gulls at home until my first visit to Seattle, Washing- 

 ton. There they are to be found by thousands, especial- 

 ly from early autumn until late spring. When they were 

 coming in from their breeding grounds in the autumn I 

 have seen them arrive by thousands every day. Each 

 morning it was plain that there were many more than the 

 day before, and for an hour or two before dark they ar- 

 rived in a seemingly endless stream. There are many va- 

 rieties of sea gulls, but the habits of all are much the 

 same and for the purpose of this story it is not necessary 

 to tell the differences. We have twenty-two species in the 

 United States. Those of you who live where sea gulls 



