200 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



to be witnessed at these breeding-places. The 

 Gulls in noisy clouds fill the air like a snowstorm 

 Gulls, Gulls, Gulls are everywhere high up in 

 the air, wheeling round and round just above our 

 heads in fluttering hosts, swimming on the water 

 near us, or standing on the ground almost at 

 our feet. As soon as the young are reared, 

 which is by the middle or end of July, the 

 birds quit their breeding-stations, and for the 

 remainder of the year this Gull leads a nomad 

 kind of life along the coast and at sea. Its 

 usual food during spring and summer is worms, 

 grubs, frogs, newly sown grain, and small fish ; but 

 at other times, fish, crustaceans, and the garbage 

 of the shore and the sea form its sustenance. 



The birds here noticed in detail are the most 

 characteristic of the Broads, although, as we have 

 remarked, some of them may be met with in 

 suitable haunts elsewhere ; whilst, on the other 

 hand, this district is frequented by a host of 

 other species whose more usual home is among 

 scenery of quite a different character. It is my 

 endeavour in these rambles to introduce to the 

 reader such birds as are most characteristic of 

 the country through which he walks. Through- 

 out the Broads and Fens, therefore, he will meet 

 with many other birds we have already noted, or 

 are about to note in rambles yet to follow, so that 

 a casual allusion to them will be sufficient to 

 make the sketch of bird life in the Broads fairly 

 complete. To pass them by in silence would be 

 like leaving out the details of our picture. 



In summer no wanderer after birds across the 

 Broads will fail to meet with the REED WARBLER 

 singing lustily from the thickets. All night long 



