THE BLACKHEADED-GULL 141 



assumed as the bird is swimming on the water, the neck lies flat 

 along the surface, the beak being tilted up as above described. It is 

 in some cases difficult to attach any precise meaning to this gesture. 

 I have, for instance, seen it made by a bird when alone. There can be 

 no doubt, however, that as a rule it is intended to be a menace, for it 

 is frequently followed either by the prompt departure of the bird 

 approached or by a scuffle. It is made by other species of Gull. Mr. 

 Hudson notes it in the case of the glaucous-gull, and compares it to 

 the snarl of a dog. 1 It might perhaps even more fitly be compared 

 to a display of fangs. As in the case of dogs, it is not always meant to 

 be taken seriously. It is not even always meant to mark hostility. 

 I have seen it made by one of a pair, the male, and followed by 

 anything but bellicose proceedings. This may possibly be explained 

 by the fact that the love of male for female has in it an undoubted 

 element of aggressiveness, one might almost say ferocity. 



In the second posture the neck is held erect, and the beak 

 usually bent downward and sometimes to one side. The crown 

 feathers are more or less erected, probably as an effect of the down- 

 ward inclination of the beak and backward poise of the head, while 

 the wings are usually held part open and away from the body, the so- 

 called shoulders (wrists) projecting. The general appearance is that 

 of lofty disdain, but this may not, and, in fact, certainly does not in 

 most cases represent the feelings of the bird. The attitude resembles 

 that assumed by the male in the love-display above described. On 

 both the two occasions on which I have exact records of its being 

 used independently of the other two " gestures," it appeared to be a 

 form of greeting or affection. In one of these cases, one of a pair, 

 which I took to be the female, was building her nest. Her mate, 

 who had previously been standing near by, was taking a flight round 

 the gullery. Suddenly I saw the female strike the erect posture and 

 also bow. She had evidently recognised her mate in the general crowd 

 of flying birds, for next instant he alighted. My recollection, aided by 



1 Land's End, p. 23. 



