28 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



Wild, stormy weather, I have repeatedly noticed, 

 will also drive this Gull landwards sooner, perhaps, 

 than any other species. Like its congeners, it is 

 practically omnivorous. Carrion is sought after as 

 readily as living fish and other marine creatures. 

 I have also known this species regularly to visit 

 a slaughter-house near the coast, to feed upon the 

 ofifal thrown upon the pastures for manure ; and I 

 have repeatedly watched the pure-plumaged birds 

 fighting with the Rooks and Crows for a share of 

 the feast. This Gull will also feed on grain, grubs, 

 and worms, is a constant follower of vessels, and 

 congregates in unusual numbers at fishing harbours 

 during the sprat and herring seasons. In its flight 

 it is graceful in the extreme, and it may often be 

 seen soaring at a vast altitude like a Vulture. 

 Writing on the flight of this Gull, Gatke (in his 

 fascinating work, Heligoland, as an Ornithological 

 Observatory] says : " Not only are these Gulls able 

 to soar in a calm atmosphere in a direction straight 

 forwards, or sideways, on calmly outspread wings, 

 but, as has been more fully discussed in the case of 

 Buzzards, they can also, in a manner similar to 

 theirs, soar upwards to any desirable altitude. The 

 Gulls are able to perform their soaring movements 

 on the same plane in all phases of the weather, 

 during the most violent storm, as well as in a 

 perfect calm, progressing forwards or sideways 

 at the most variable rates of velocity ; now darting 

 along with the swiftness of an arrow, now merely 



