214 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [CHAP. xxvn. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



Different kinds of Gulls : Large Collections of Breeding-places Islands 

 on a Loch Eggs of Gulls Young Birds Food and Voracity of Large 

 Gulls: Salmon-fry killed by Boatswain-Gull Manner of procuring 

 Food. 



As great a variety of the gull tribe frequents the Findhorn Bay 

 and the Moray Firth as perhaps is to be seen in any one local ity 

 in Great Britain. To the uninterested passer-by a gull is a gull, 

 and nothing more, whether the race is represented at the moment 

 by that splendid bird, the great black-backed gull, Larus marinus, 

 or by the small but elegant black-headed gull, Larus ridibundus 

 of Linnaeus, or as Buffon, alluding also to its laugh-like cry, calls 

 it la Mouette rieuse. Yet, if closely observed, every kind of 

 gull has its own peculiar ways and habits, all of which are worthy 

 of note, and adapted to its own manner of feeding, and providing 

 for its wants. During March and April the black-headed gull, 

 which has been absent during the winter, returns in innumerable 

 flocks. After sunset they hold long consultations on the sands 

 of the bay, and when the night is calm I can hear them from my 

 windows at the distance of nearly two miles chattering and 

 clamouring for hours together. In the daytime they frequent 

 the fields, and wherever a plough is at work there are the black- 

 headed gulls in thousands, hovering over the ploughman's head, 

 and keeping up such a continual screaming, that I have seen both 

 man and horses fairly bewildered by the noise. A man left his 

 plough and came to me the other day, as I was passing in the 

 next field, to beg me to fire a shot or two at these noisy and un- 

 invited followers. As fast as a worm or grub is turned up by 

 the plough, down drop two or three gulls to scramble for it. In 

 this manner they soon get the necessary supply of food, and 

 return to join the assembly on the sands, where, having drunk 

 and bathed, they remain for the rest of the day. After passing a 



