CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN GULLS 



with the rapidity of a hawk(which bird thej' much resemble 

 in their manner of flight), they attacked the unfortunategull 

 in the air, and, in spite of his screams and attempts to es- 

 cape, they pursued and beat him till he disgorged the fish 

 or whatever he had swallowed, when one of them darted 

 down and caught the substance before it could reach the 

 water. The two then returned quietly back to their sand- 

 bank, where they waited patiently to repeat the robbery, 

 should an opportunity occur. As the flock of gulls moved 

 on with the flow of the tide the boatswains moved on also, 

 hoveringon theirflanklikea pairof plunderingfreebooters. 

 I observed that in chasing a gull they seemed perfectly to 

 understand each other as to who should get the spoil; and 

 in their attacks on the largest gulls (against whom they 

 waged themost fearless warfare), theyevidentlyacted so as 

 to aid each other. If another pair of boatswains intruded on 

 their hunting-ground, they immediately seemed to send 

 them farther off, not so much by actual battle as by a noisy 

 and screaming argument, which they continued most vig- 

 orously till the new comers left the neighbourhood. 



I never saw these birds hunt for their own living in any 

 other way than by robbing the other gulls. Though not 

 nearly so large as some of the birds which they attack, their 

 hawk-like swoops and great courage seem to enable them 

 to fight their way most successfully. They are neatly and 

 powerfully made; their colour, a kind of sooty dull black, 

 with very little gloss or shining tints on their feathers. The 

 boatswains seldomappear here exceptingduring April and 

 May. All the gull tribe during their first year are of a dino-y 

 and mottled colour, very unlike the neat and elegant com- 

 bination of colours they afterwards acquire. 



