MAY 105 



able frost of January and February 1895 which sent 

 birds into all kinds of unaccustomed places in desperate 

 quest of food. A few gulls found their way into the 

 parks from the Thames estuary ; mindful of the hospi- 

 tality they received, they have returned there each 

 year bringing with them their children's children, until 

 they have become one of the sights of London. 



But powerfully as free meals influence the move- 

 ments of these birds, it is overruled by a stronger 

 impulse in spring. Reluctant as they may be to leave 

 the fleshpots of London, these gulls one and all obey 

 the mandate which drives them into the wilderness to 

 rear their young. No stragglers are allowed ; no crafty 

 pair may hang back to bring up a brood where dainties 

 are so easily come by. All must repair to the distant 

 moorland loch where, from immemorial time, the 

 blackheaded gulls have assembled in huge colonies for 

 the primary duty of reproduction. All through spring 

 and summer, instead of hovering idly about the crowded 

 bridges, snapping up supplies from a benevolent public, 

 they must range far and wide for food, hunting grubs 

 on the ploughlands, caterpillars in the heather, and, sad 

 to say, young salmon and trout in the shallows. 



It is in summer only that the title ' blackheaded ' is 

 even roughly appropriate. The heads of these birds 

 during their London season are pure white, puzzling 

 many people as to the fitness of the appellation. It is 

 only during the season of courtship and matrimony, 

 when the gulls are hundreds of miles away from 

 London, that the feathers of the head become, not 

 black, but dark chocolate. 



