BRITISH BIRDS. 



In temperate and cultivated countries some 

 species occasionally leave the shores for the in- 

 terior, probably to search for a change of food, 

 such as worms, slugs, &c., and of these they find, 

 for a time, an abundant supply on the downs and 

 pastures which they visit. In the northern isles 

 of Scotland, some of the smaller kinds, especially 

 the common Winter Mew, follow the plough fur- 

 row in great numbers. The jelly-like substance 

 which is sometimes met with in the fields, and 

 known by the name of star-shot, is believed to be 

 the remains of half-digested worms, &c., which 

 they have discharged from their over-loaded 

 .stomachs. 



