Birds. 9521 



they appear to prefer solitude, but they may sometimes be ob- 

 served assembled in small parties, seldom in large numbers, although 

 I have seen as many as fifty together. This species may be recognized 

 at a considerable distance by its steady soaring flight, and by the wing 

 being less bent at the carpal joint than it is in others of the genus; 

 nearer it may readily be known by its conspicuous while or whitish 

 quills, and in the water it sits more buoyantly than the herrin"- o^ull 

 which is sometimes mistaken for it. Owing to the extreme thickness 

 and compactness of its plumage it is seldom killed with shot smaller 

 than BB. I have known one quietly fly away after having received 

 three charges of No. 3, although each one of them knocked out some 

 of the feathers. A "sitting" shot at a glaucous gull is nearly always 

 unsuccessful, and deservedly so, for he who could not hit one flying 

 would be a sorry shot indeed, A few days ago a friend of mine fired 

 at one several times, but apparently with very little efl^ect, until, 

 having received the last charge, it flew for about fifty yards, alighted 

 briskly upon a rock, and after standing firmlj' for a few seconds, sud- 

 denly fell dead. Upon examination I foand very tew wounds, but 

 plenty of broken feathers, and that one shot had passed completely 

 through the heart in such a manner as to make an opening less than a 

 line in width into the left ventricle. In the winter of 1860-61, when 

 there was a great mortality among the ponies, glaucous gulls were so 

 numerous that one morning I shot four immature birds as fast as 

 I could load, and without going more than sixty yards from the house. 

 Of all those which have been examined by me I have only seen one 

 in poor condition : usually they are so fat as to cause much trouble in 

 skinning. Animal food of any kind is always acceptable to them ; 

 but, much to my surprise, I have sometimes found the stomach filled 

 with various species of sea-weed, and this has even occurred when 

 whales' flesh has been abundant. Only a short time ago I took from 

 the stomach of one of these birds sea-weeds of five different species 

 the greater portion consisting of Alaria esculenta ("honey-ware"), the 

 midrib of which is sometimes eaten by the Shetlanders themselves. 

 So far as my observations go, glaucous gulls are not so quarrelsome, 

 either among themselves or with other species, as herring gulls appear 

 to be, and they feed in company with other birds without seeming to 

 cause any alarm. Sometimes, when food has previously been scarce 

 crowds of hungry glaucous gulls, herring gulls, great blackbacks, 

 hooded crows, ravens and starlings may all be seen feeding together 

 upon one carcase. 



VOL. XXIII. T 



