The Sea-Gull 203 



though this cannot be said in any way to be their 

 natural food. That a gull, however, can live 

 entirely on corn is proved by the fact that the 

 stomach of one so kept by John Hunter is now pre- 

 served in the Museum of the College of Surgeons. 



G-ulls make excellent pets, and are most useful 

 in gardens, having an illimitable appetite for slugs 

 and a general aptitude for devouring obnoxious 

 insects. And, strange though it may appear, con- 

 sidering their natural wariness and wildness, it is 

 not necessary to obtain them young, as an adult 

 bird, pinioned by a good or lucky shot as the case 

 may be, will, often before its wound has thoroughly 

 healed, have become so tame that it will come with 

 great regularity to be fed, if it does not, as certainly 

 will eventually be the case, know and follow the 

 person who is in the habit of feeding it. 



Gulls in captivity, or rather wandering at large 

 in a garden, though deprived of their power of 

 flight, are by no means the miserable birds that 

 many would imagine. On the contrary, they are 

 most masterful, and evidently consider themselves 

 of very great importance. They will generally 

 condescend to notice all the members of the house- 

 hold to which they belong, though naturally they 

 have their favourites, giving their preference as a 

 rule to those who feed them, and will possibly 

 admit certain well-known visitors to a limited 

 intimacy ; but they usually resent the intrusion of 

 strangers, even to the extent of pecking their heels 

 a far from pleasant operation for the victim, 



