BREYDON GULLS AND BREYDON CRABS 187 



to sea in the evening, reversing these tactics at other periods, 

 notably in the autumn. 



Undoubtedly at intervals Breydon is visited by all these 

 various contingents. In winter the black-heads are still 

 with us, and spend much of their time in the severest days 

 flying up and down the river, quite in the heart of the town, 

 picking up then a very precarious living. The larger gulls 

 also pass much of their time hunting up and down "the 

 channel, glad at times to patrol the edges of the flats in 

 search of carrion. Dead rats, kittens, mice, and even larger 

 quadrupeds are eagerly discussed. When strong winds are 

 blowing they will draw together in closely formed flocks and 

 stand, head to wind, listless and cheerless, until the rising 

 tide or the calls of hunger demand some movement. 



One is always seeing some queer incident, who cares to 

 watch these commonplace birds ; for their struggle for 

 existence must be keen, considering their numbers, and what 

 a vast amount of food they must require to feed them daily. 

 An old gunner complained to me that we should never get 

 many wildfowl again, for the gulls " clear off all the feed." 

 I certainly believe them to be much more numerous since 

 they have been afforded protection ; and sometimes try to 

 estimate what weight of crabs and other food they can 

 devour in a single day on Breydon. 



A few " gull " entries from my notebook may be instruc- 

 tive : 



"January \%th, 1904. James Hurr, an aged gunner who 

 was at one time a well-known puntsman, sat by my fireside 

 this evening and discussed his reminiscences of gulls. Dur- 

 ing a heavy gale in the early winter of 1883, Hurr went to 

 the beach for gulls, and anything that might ' turn up/ The 

 wind was blowing heavily from the east. Soon after he 

 reached the beach he observed a pomatorhine skua, at which 

 he fired, but missed it. The next day he returned to the 

 beach, hoping to meet with this bird again. He had barely 

 reloaded his gun, after a shot, when a small gull came 

 tripping by. Bringing the gun hurriedly to his left shoulder 

 (for he shot as much left as right) he brought down the 

 bird, the next long, sweeping wave washing it to his feet. 

 He noticed that the tail was forked, and thought it ' a 

 curiosity ' ; and as it was his practice to keep birds clean, 

 1 curiosities ' in particular, he made a hollow in the sand 

 above the tide-mark, and laid the gull therein to cool and 



