THE GULL. 131 



tive rarity of ships and fishing stations therein ; but, it is 

 also very possible that heat does not suit most Gulls' con- 

 stitutions. At any rate, two non- Indian species, the 

 common Gull (Larus canus) and the Great Black-backed 

 Gull (Larus marinus), did not thrive in captivity at the 

 Alipore Zoo, where the Brown-headed Gull and its smaller 

 relative have done very well. 



Whether from their greater ability to provide for them- 

 selves pivscatorially, or from a heat-enduring nature, the 

 Gulls' graceful relatives, the Terns, are quite at home in the 

 Tropics. They certainly prefer warm regions, as they 

 leave Northern Europe in winter, and many breed even in 

 our seas around India. They may be known from Gulls 

 by their usually smaller size, forked tails whence their 

 alternative name of sea-swallows and small feet, and 

 their bills are not hooked like those of Gulls. They are 

 constantly on the wing, plunging down with a headlong 

 dash on their prey of small fish and shrimps, or even hunt- 

 ing over the dry land for insects. Most of them are so 

 much alike in colour, being of a delicate grey set off by a 

 black cap, that they are hard to distinguish at a distance ; 

 but one species or another may often be seen about Cal- 

 cutta. I have even noticed them hawking over the museum 

 tank, right in the town. Occasionally in winter they 

 find their way into the Provision Bazaar, where not being 

 ducks or <c E-shnipe," they go down as " Peeluver bird " 

 along with other miscellaneous wild fowl. Some of these 

 really are worth eating, but it is hard when the pretty Terns 

 are translated from their proper sphere of landscape orna- 

 mentation to ingloriously disfigure a sorry scrap of toast. 



