CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN GULLS 



AS great a variety of thegull tribe frequents the 

 Findhorn Bay andthe Moray Firth as perhaps 

 is to be seen in any one locaHty in Great Brit- 

 ain. To the uninterested passer-by a gull is a 

 gull, and nothing more, whether the race is represented at 

 the moment by that splendid bird, the great black-backed 

 gull, Z,a^«^»2fl!rm».y, or by the small butelegant black-head- 

 ed gull, ZarM5'^z'a^2<52<«^2^^ of Linnaeus, orasBuffbn, alluding 

 also to its laugh-like cry, calls it /a Mouette rieuse. Yet, if 

 closelyobserved,everykindof gull has itsown peculiar ways 

 and habits, all of which are worthy of note, and adapted to 

 its own manner of feeding, and providing for its wants. Dur- 

 ing Marchand April the black headed gull, which has been 

 absent during the winter, returns in innumerable flocks. 

 After sunset they hold long consultations, on the sands of 

 the bay, and when the night is calm I can hear them from 

 my windows at the distance of nearly two miles chattering 

 and clamouring for hours together. In the daytime they fre- 

 quent the fields, and wherever a plough is at work there are 

 the black-headed gulls in thousands, hovering over the 

 ploughman'shead,andkeepIngupsuch acontinual scream- 

 ing, that I have seen both man andhorses fairly bewildered 

 by the noise. A man left his plough and came to me the 

 other day, as I was passing in the next field, to beg me to 

 fire a shot or two at these noisy and uninvited followers. As 

 fast as a worm or grub is turned up by the plough, down 

 drop two or three gulls to scramble for it. In this manner 

 they soon get the necessary supply of food, and return to 

 join the assembly on the sands, where, having drunk and 

 bathed, they remain for the rest of the day. After passing a 

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