igo WILD LIFE ON A NORFOLK ESTUARY 



Breydon this afternoon, soon after the tide fell. At least 

 3000 were Larus ridibundus. The remainder were black- 

 backed gulls and common gulls. In long white rows, 

 showing in strong contrast to the sombre mudflats, they 

 reminded me of freshly built flint ' walls/ with the chalk still 

 adhering. The firing of a gun put to flight a veritable cloud 

 of gulls." 



" April 2$rd t 1906. These mixed flocks of gulls are very 

 interesting to watch ; seldom are they all really quiet 

 as a rule one or more are continually dropping into the thick 

 of a crowd from the outside, like the odd pig round a 

 trough, when short, spirited protests and petty squabbles 

 take place on each occasion. All heads to wind. Wind 

 N.W., strong." 



"July, 1906. A sailor fell overboard from a vessel in the 

 North Sea and drifted away unnoticed by the crew. He 

 was an expert swimmer, and managed to keep afloat, throw- 

 ing off his garments as opportunity offered, in order to dis- 

 encumber himself as much as possible. A flock of gulls 

 gathered round and viciously attacked him, seriously mauling 

 his back ; and it was only by great exertions on his part that 

 they were kept at bay. His struggles at length attracted the 

 notice of the crew of a passing ship, who promptly lowered 

 a boat and rescued him in a very exhausted condition. His 

 injuries were attended to, and he very soon recovered. It is 

 most unusual for gulls to attack a living man, although a 

 floating corpse is rarely let alone." 



"July 24^, 1906. Myriads of whitebait [herring-syle] 

 flashing about in Breydon. I was much interested in the 

 way that a group of gulls, who were eagerly feeding upon 

 them, would drop in a bunch over a congested shoal, their 

 actions seeming to drive the fishes helplessly together, thus 

 making them an easier prey. 1 It is possible that the eels, 

 which are exceedingly partial to young herrings, were harass- 

 ing them below." 



"July 2<)th, 1906. Some greater black-backed gulls fishing 

 in about a foot of water, over the flat near Jary's houseboat, 



1 Sir R. Lloyd Patterson, in The Irish Naturalist of October, 1904, refers to 

 a similar procedure, under the title of "'Plays' of Birds and 'Balls' of Fry." 

 " Among the birds may be seen all the commoner gulls in great variety of 

 plumage. ... A number of the larger fish must make a simultaneous attack on 

 a shoal of fry below, which are thus driven closer together and towards the sur- 

 face, when they are noticed by the smaller divers, who ' go for them ' in such a 

 manner that, circling round the outer extremity of the shoal of fry, the fish com- 

 posing it become still more closely driven into a mass. . . . The outer portion 

 . . . shows at the surface, and is there exposed to the attacks of the surface- 

 feeding gulls." The tactics of these Breydon gulls seemed formed on precisely 

 similar lines. 



