58 BIRDS 



The Herring Gull does not dive for its food and 

 is a poor swimmer, yet no bird floats more gracefully on 

 the water, or is more skillful in catching food tossed to 

 it. If the morsel is missed, the Gull picks it from the 

 surface of the water, without alighting. These Gulls may 

 frequently be seen dozing, like a domestic hen, with heads 

 snugly tucked beneath their feathers. 



The young retain their juvenile plumage for the first 

 year. This may lead to confusion in identification. 



Gulls like to loaf around man's abode, where they 

 can reap a rich harvest of food with less labor than 

 from the open ocean. They are not particular in regard 

 to their diet list. Garbage, sewerage, and dead fish all 

 look alike to a hungry Gull. 



With its beautiful white plumage this bird appears 

 out of its sphere when seen feeding on a ship's refuse 

 or on city garbage. The Gull does not look like a scav- 

 enger. I have stood on a steamer's deck, when out of 

 sight of land, and watched a flock of them as they fol- 

 lowed in the wake of the boat. They would come scream- 

 ing and begging for more refuse to be cast upon the 

 waters. How they kept up with the ship was a wonder 

 to me. Regardless of the fact that the vessel was mak- 

 ing fifteen miles per hour in the face of quite a gale, 

 these big Gulls kept close, seemingly without winged 

 or other effort. With their wings in graceful, cup-like 

 curves, they bored into the air currents. 



While I was big game hunting on the Aleutian Pen- 

 insula, the Pacific type of these Gulls was to be found 

 there in great numbers. The natives told me that they 

 collected large quantities of Gull's eggs each year during 

 the nesting period. 



On Kodiak Island I saw these birds at low tide, feed- 

 ing on clams and other moluscae, which are abundant 

 there. I saw a Gull pick up a large clam, fly with it to 

 a height of twenty feet, and drop it on a pile of glacial 

 boulders. If the shell was broken the clam was greedily 

 eaten ; but if the drop failed to smash the shell, the Gull 

 picked it up and from a greater height dropped the clam 

 again. This was repeated until the objective was at- 

 tained, often requiring many efforts. 



Is this reasoning? If not, what is it? 



