THE GULLS AND TERNS. 193 



it again by the head. This manoeuvre is followed by 

 the magical disappearance of the fish. It is a pretty 

 sight to watch a flock of Terns following a shoal of 

 little fishes with clamorous glee, dropping one after 

 another with a splash and rising again and chasing 

 each other, as if they had a stock of breath like the 

 widow's cruse of oil. Now all this is impossible to a 

 Gull. It is a tramp, following ships for the offal and 

 scraps that may be thrown overboard, picking up 

 dead and sickly fishes, helping itself, in short, to 

 anything that floats, but never dipping below the 

 surface of the water. This is the difference between 

 a Gull and a Tern, and to me it seems of more conse- 

 quence than the number of feathers in the tail, or the 

 bristles about the nose. 



The commonest Gull on our coast is, I think, the 

 Brown-headed Gull (Larus brunneicephalus), but it is 

 not easily distinguished on the wing from the Laugh- 

 ing Gull (L. ridibundus), which is also plentiful. 

 Both birds are pearl-grey on the mantle and pure 

 white on the head, neck, body and tail. Before they 

 leave us in the hot season (for they breed in Europe 

 or Central Asia) their heads become dark brown or 

 sepia. Their bills and feet are red. In young or 

 youngish birds the tail is edged with black. The 

 points of the wings are always black, with a broad 

 white band across them, and the principal difference 

 between the Brown-headed and the Laughing Gulls 

 is in the shape of this white band. Another common 

 species is the Herring Gull (Larus affinis L. fuscus 

 in Jerdon), a larger bird, with a slate-coloured mantle. 

 Its bill and feet are yellow, and it does not put on a 

 brown cap in winter. Young birds are brown, and 

 25 



