A PLEA FOR THE SEA GULLS. 135 



the pure white of their plumage, and their black wings 

 marked with white in conjunction with their graceful 

 form, render them favourite ornaments with the fair sex. 

 To us, however, who know the Gull so well at home on 

 the sea and rocks, in the full enjoyment of its restless 

 wandering life, there is nothing more barbarous-looking 

 than a Gull or a Tern contorted into the most hideous 

 shapes imaginable, stuck into the modern hat or bonnet. 

 The fair owner may feel proud of her property, and 

 even excite the envy of a less fortunate sister, but. her 

 taste and her refinement are not a single step in ad- 

 vance of her dusky relatives in the forests of South 

 America or the Pacific Islands. Feathers are used by 

 most savage tribes as ornaments ; it would seem that 

 this fashion among civilised women is one of the few 

 barbaric customs which has been handed down from 

 remote and uncivilised ages. 



Let us leave these Gull caricatures in the milliners' 

 shops for a short time, and visit the coast where the 

 Sea Gull lives, and watch the bird as it is in life. The 

 blue-green sea is sparkling in the summer sunshine ; 

 the cliffs in rugged outline stand out in bold relief 

 against the sky. Flying lightly up and down, or 

 floating buoyantly on the swelling sea, the Gulls may 

 be seen, and their gambols never fail to interest the 

 observer. If we visit the noble headland yonder, we 

 shall see the Gull at home. Hundreds of its nests are 



