232 THE GULL. 



exert it. A constant attendant on the whale-fishers, 

 whenever they are busied in cutting up a whale, 

 he hovers over the carcass, and having fixed his 

 eye on a choice morsel of hlubber or flesh, which 

 some other of the Gull tribe has secured for itself, 

 down he comes, and forcing it to abandon the 

 prize, carries it off as his own : or, if pressed by 

 hunger, he will sometimes even fall upon one of the 

 smaller sea-birds, and devour it whole. Thus, one 

 of them was shot in the Polar expedition under Sir 

 Edward Parry, which immediately disgorged an Auk, 

 or Greenland Dove; and on opening him, another 

 was found undigested in his stomach. But this 

 Burgomaster, tyrant as he is, has a rival quite his 

 equal in tyrannj r , and though his inferior in size, 

 surpassing him in courage and activity. The Arctic 

 Gull, or Dung-Hunter (Lestris parasiticus), fears 

 no bird, nor even hesitates to attack any animal, 

 of whatever size, that conies too near its nest. 

 Where they breed in considerable numbers, neither 

 Hawks, nor even Eagles, are allowed to approach; 

 for if, either by accident or design, any of these 

 birds of prey are seen, the whole assembly attack, 

 and compel them to retire. Hence, in some places 

 where they abound, they become the guardians of 

 the young lambs, which the people consider per- 

 fectly safe during Summer; and, in return for this 

 protection, the Gull is never molested, being held in 

 no less esteem than the Stork in Holland, or the Ibis 

 in Egypt. The unfortunate birds most exposed to 

 the attacks of these robbers are their brethren, the 

 Herring-Gulls," and Kittiwakes, probably because, 

 being the most diligent pursuers of fish, they are 



