LXXXI. GULLS IN A STORM. 



GULLS have not the powerful flight of the Gannet to enable them 

 to battle with the fury of the winter blasts. On the approach 

 of a storm they often fly inland for many miles and feed on the 

 insects and worms they find in the ploughed fields. I have seen 

 them here taking refuge from a winter gale, all huddled together 

 in a sheltered corner of a partly submerged field near the sea, 

 quite unable to fly. Among them were some Skuas in a help- 

 less condition, one of which we managed to catch. On compar- 

 ing it with Yarrell's description we believed it to be Eichardson's 

 Skua. It was speckled brown of a lighter colour than the 

 Common Skua, which I had seen before in the bay pursuing the 

 Sea Gulls, and robbing them of their fish. Its eyes and beak 

 were dark, and its legs pale coloured, with dark toes and webs. 



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