COMMON, HERRING, AND BLACKBACKED-GULLS 169 



Club, which it is only fair to say must not be taken as typical, he 

 writes : " I had never before seen grown men invade a bird-haunt like 

 savages, rushing from nest to nest with excited shouts beside them- 

 selves, in fact, with the wealth of plunder lying at their feet. One 

 fellow, more methodical in his barbarity, went about testing the state 

 of the eggs by working a knife-blade through the shells : if the egg 

 contained a chick in an advanced state of development, the blood 

 which appeared showed that it was useless for blowing purposes, 

 and it was returned to the nest. Upon my expostulating at this 

 barbarity, he expressed regret that he ' had no stamp-paper ! ' If 

 the egg gave signs of having been freshly laid, it was stored with 

 a growing collection in a wicker-basket he carried. . . . The eggs 

 so gathered were brought down to the beach for final test ; if they 

 floated, they were too far advanced for cabinet purposes, and were 

 stoned down." x 



Such barbarity is far more revolting than the disembowelling 

 of puffins above described, for it serves only an idle and childish 

 purpose ; the gulls, at least, confine themselves to killing for 

 food, in which they show themselves vastly more civilised than 

 mankind. 



In August or earlier, they quit for the most part their breeding- 

 haunts, and are found during the autumn and winter in various 

 parts of the British Isles, both inland and on or near the coast, or out 

 at sea. They are usually seen in flocks or small parties, either 

 separate or associated with other species, the least gregarious being 

 the great blackbacked. But flocks of thirty or more of these are 

 at times observed. The relations between young and old at this 

 season have yet to be closely studied. They are not always very 

 cordial, and this is probably due in the first place to the determination 

 of the parents to make the young understand that they must shift for 



1 Mr. Jourdain tells me that a small incision with a pin made in an egg will not prevent it 

 hatching, and that if .covered with stamp-plaster no damage will ensue. This fact is not given 

 in order to vindicate the behaviour of the gentleman referred to in the text ; he used a knife- 

 blade, and, on his own showing, " had no stamp-paper." 



VOL. III. Y 



