628 ' The Zoologist — March, 1867. 



sun, they rise, they fall, they skim the sand, from slowly moving clouds 

 of smoke, the flight of thousands as the flight of one, their clear soft 

 flute-like " T-you-ha-who " ringing through the morning air, — and 

 around on all sides little L. canus harking and crying in the most 

 plaintive manner " e-yah e-yah e-yah " (something like the bark of a 

 dog, and evidently the origin of its name). Though wary on the 

 strands they may be killed in great numbers as they hover over a dead 

 companion. Many gulls seem to be on the strand merely to rest 

 themselves, as they do not appear to feed, but stand with the head 

 crouched on the back, and one leg and foot buried in the plumage of 

 the belly. The morning wash is generally performed before sunrise, 

 the bird seeking some shallow pool in which it stands ducking the 

 head, and by that means throwing water over the back ; the wings are 

 kept in perpetual motion, gently striking the water, and the tail 

 swinging ; a great shaking and preening match follows, and then 

 winter's whitest mantle or the waves' unsullied crest is not more white 

 or pure than the breast of the gull ; but the feathers of the back, I 

 could not describe them — so immaculate the blue and so delicate the 

 texture. Again, whilst snipe-shooting we meet this little gull in the 

 damp rushy meadows, in the bogs, and along the uncultivated grass- 

 lands of the coast, feeding on the drowned worms and the larvae of the 

 ghost moth, the long-legs and the dor-beetle. A more solitary or 

 dreary scene could not be witnessed than a bleak sea-shore field, of a 

 wild dark day, dotted with gulls lying or standing, all humped up and 

 motionless, head to wind. They are very partial to grass-lands, miles 

 inland, after snow has thawed, and, in fact, are to be met inland both 

 in stormy and fine weather. I quite believe in the popular opinion 

 that the gull seeks the land more during stormy than during fine 

 weather, and on such occasions flies much further inland. 



" Seagull, seagull, 

 Sit on tbe strand ; 

 God help the poor sailors 

 When you come to land," 



is a common Irish rhyme, and I think in many cases too true. I have 

 many times seen them with the feet so stained with red bog-mud that 

 the salt water had not washed it off, showing how protracted some of 

 their visits are to land. Many of our inland lakes are permanently 

 frequented by them, and as they are seen during summer they must 

 consequently breed on their islands and sedges. It is also one of the 

 gulls that follow the plough, and in company with rooks and jackdaws 



