LETTER XXII 



Gulls Rooks Floods. 



loth April 1889. 



DEAR MARCO Only a short letter to de- 

 scribe a pretty sight we enjoyed here on the 

 22nd of last month, and which I somehow 

 forgot to tell you about when in town. It 

 was at lunch time, 1.30, when my boy Peter 

 called my attention to a flight of beautiful 

 white birds over the meadows opposite our 

 house. At first I took them for a return of 

 the terns, but very soon discovered my mis- 

 take ; for their flight was totally different in 

 character and their tails were not forked. I 

 have no doubt but that these were gulls, 

 probably the small black-headed gull, which 

 at this time of the year loses his black cap ; 

 at any rate, they had white heads. I counted 



