2i 4 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



length on the warm sands. Far out over the waves I saw, more 



than once 



" A flock of sea birds darken into specks ; 

 Then whiten as they wheel with sunlit wings, 

 Winking and wavering against the sky." 



At the water's edge a score or more of long-billed curlews ran about, 

 picking up crabs and shellfish cast up by the tide. A few gulls 

 mingled with the curlews and watched for opportunities to steal the 

 dainties they snatched from the waves. Some distance out from 

 shore three great brown pelicans flew back and forth 



"On solemn wings that wave but seldom while." 



They were fishing, and at intervals one would dive with a terrific 

 splash into the ocean after its finny prey. Through my field glass 

 I could see the huge bird come to the surface, and with. great effort 

 mount into the air, beset on either side by those " pirates of the 

 deep," the skua gulls, whose principal occupation is stealing from 

 pelicans and gulls the prey they capture. Ornithologically speak- 

 ing, these skuas are not true gulls, though in looks and habits there 

 is a family resemblance. Some one has aptly called them " the 

 hawks of the sea." They are fierce, overbearing robbers, like some 

 of the land birds of prey. 



One day on the beach, a short distance above the Coronado 

 Hotel, I watched some Chinese fishermen casting their large net 

 into the ocean, in the same primitive manner, doubtless, as their 

 ancestors had done for centuries. It was not the Chinamen who 

 particularly attracted my attention, but rather a large flock of gulls 

 that suddenly assembled as soon as the fishermen began to haul in 

 the net. The birds evidently knew what was coming and circled 

 about low over our heads. I had joined the fishers and was helping 

 to pull on the rope. At last we dragged the seine high and dry on 

 the beach, and found a goodly number of fish in the mass of sea- 

 weed flounders and perch, as well as a lot of " shiners " and other 

 fish too small to be marketable. The " small fry " were tossed 

 oceanward, but were eagerly seized upon, almost before they reached 

 the water, by the hungry gulls. When the men had finished the 

 work of sorting out the big fish and moved away from the sea- 

 weed pile, which still contained dozens of little fish, the twoscore 

 impatient gulls descended with loud cries of joy, and in less time 

 than it takes to tell it every " shiner " had disappeared. 



Gulls nest in colonies, generally on the ground along sandy 

 beaches; also on the rocky ledges by the ocean. Large numbers 

 nest on the Santa Catalina Islands and other rocky islands off the 

 coast of California. Their eggs are gathered and sold as food in the 



