Gull Dick 



r 



the world. They are social creatures rather 

 from motives of economy than of good-will, I 

 suspect, for many eyes can sweep a range of 

 beach or tide-flat or a space of water better 

 than a single pair ; and when one discovers any 

 food his actions will at once let the rest know 

 of it, and then there is a rush, for at the gulls' 

 table the rule is first come, first served. 



Gulls feed on anything and everything eata- 

 ble, apparently, and many go far inland for 

 food at certain times; but carrion and fish 

 thrown up on the beach or embayed in some lit- 

 tle tide-pool, sandworms, small crabs and mol- 

 lusks, form their principal fare. The floating 

 carcass of a whale is always covered with them ; 

 and the garbage-scows that go out from the 

 harbor of New York to throw the refuse of the 

 city into the ocean are always accompanied in 

 winter by so great a cloud of these birds that 

 the scows themselves are sometimes almost in- 

 visible. 



They do not catch living food by diving after 

 it, or chasing it under water, as do some sea- 

 birds, but trust to the surface to supply them, 

 $ 285 



