BRITISH BIRDS. 217 



This fierce species is met with in the high lati- 

 tudes of both hemispheres, where they are much 

 more common than in the warm or temperate parts 

 of the globe. In Capt. Cook's voyages, they are 

 often mentioned; and, from being numerous about 

 the Falkland Isles, the seamen called them Port- 

 Egmont hens. They are also common in Norway, 

 Iceland, the Ferro, and Zetland Isles, &c. They 

 prey not only upon fish, but also upon the lesser 

 sorts of water-fowl, and, it is said, even upon young 

 lambs : this, however, is doubted, and even denied : 

 on the contrary, these birds are said to afford pro- 

 tection to the flocks, by driving away the Eagle, 

 Raven, &c., which they furiously attack whenever 

 they come within their reach, and on this account 

 are highly valued. They are uncommonly coura- 

 geous in defence of their own young, and seize, 

 with the utmost vengeance, upon any animal, 

 whether man or beast, that offers to disturb their 

 nests; they sometimes attack the shepherds even 

 while watching their flocks, who are obliged, in 

 their own defence, to guard their heads, and to 

 ward off the blows of the assailants by holding a 

 pointed stick towards them, against which they 

 sometimes dash with such force as to be killed on 

 the spot. In like manner, they who are about to 

 rob their nests, hold a knife, or other sharp instru- 

 ment, over their heads, upon which the enraged 

 bird precipitates, and transfixes itself. They make 

 their nests among the dry grass, and, when the 

 young are reared, they disperse themselves, com- 

 monly in pairs, over the ocean. 



The feathers of this species, as well as those of 

 other Gulls, are by many people preferred to those 



VOL. n. 2 E 



