CURIOSITIES OF WILD LIFE. 



69 



LESSER BLACK-BACKED 

 GULLS. 



food alive into the mouths of their hungry off- 

 spring. If the unfortunate victims should die, 

 through being grasped too long or hard between 

 the mandibles of their captors, they are either 

 dropped to the ground or swallowed by the old 

 birds, and a fresh supply promptly sought after. 



In spite of the jealous way in which Nature 

 hides her secrets, it sometimes happens that the 

 student stumbles upon little scraps of curious 

 information quite fortuitously. 



One day, I found the nest of a song thrush 

 in a small chalk-pit close to my home, and deter- 

 mined to secure a series of sun pictures of the 



