HERRING GULL. 8l 



Gull, on snowy wing, wheels high in the blue. 

 But* the Black - back can spread its five feet of 

 white pinions and sweep far over the sea. I'hen 

 its movements are majestic and grand, as with 

 keen eye it watches for the larger game of the 

 deep. Both this bird and the Herring Gull, feed 

 much on mollusca, breaking such strong shells as 

 those of Mactra solidissima with their bills. 



The Herring Gull is the bird of the harbor 

 and the bay, its snowy pinions forever coursing 

 over the dappling blue, or dipping lightly into 

 its foam. It may be found wandering far in 

 tiie lonely Gulf, seeking adventurously for the 

 great schools of food fish, and it is perfectly at 

 home in the busiest sea - ports, gleaning the offal 

 of fishing piers and wharfs. We will even see 

 it contending for a meal off a carcass, on the 

 ice, in mid - winter, with a grouj) of hungry 

 crows. The Herring CiuU is withal a tyrant in 

 his own field, robbing the smaller gulls, when 

 they have mide a catch, or pirating from a 

 fleet of industrious ducks, as they bring their 

 game to the surface. Both these large Gulls go 

 away to lonely islands and reefs for their nesting, 

 depositing their eggs on the naked sand, where 



