Birds that ark Land and Water Feeders. 139 



able patience. What are they? They are foragers belonging- 

 to the great white army which is scattered over the land, and 

 which sees the butterfly burst from the chrysalis, the fly 

 escape in the sunlight from its watery birthplace ; and which 

 loses no chance, misses no opportunity. They are black- 

 headed gulls. 



After all, it is only a few people who miss the butterflies 

 and moths, and in one sense the country may be no poorer 

 for their absence. The case of the flies is more serious, for 

 every angler knows the value of these on a trout water ; but 

 what I wish to point out is, that all these creatures having 

 disappeared (in some cases, I believe, the gulls have actually 

 exterminated them), the gulls must either leave the land or 

 take to other food. \"ery well. There are earth-worms and 

 beetles, harmful grubs, wire-worms, etc. Ves, the black- 

 headed gull eats all these, but there are not always enough 

 available. It must find other food. It has done so, and the 

 two foods which replace what is lost, or at any rate supple- 

 ment a very much reduced supply, are grain and fish. My 

 close observations of this bird lead me to believe that ten 

 years ago grain and fish were never (or on the rarest occa- 

 sions) taken by black-headed gulls. To-day they form a very 

 important part of their diet, and if the increase is allowed to 

 go on unchecked, who can foretell what the damage may be 

 to-morrow? I will show presently that it is not only the 

 grain from the stooks that the gulls take, but sprouted grain 

 from the fields in the spring (and in the autumn where 

 wheat is sown), and this, it will be admitted, is a much more 

 serious matter. 



I have before me a most excellent report compiled by Dr 

 Francis Ward for the Suffolk and Essex Fishery Board, con- 

 cerning some investigations carried out during 191 3 regarding 

 the feeding habits of gulls. Some of the birds examined were 

 sent from the Solway Fishery, some from Bute, but most of 

 them were procured in the south of England. For the follow- 

 ing facts I am indebted to Dr Ward's careful investigations ; 

 Of 104 specimens of black-headed gulls examined, 28 per 

 cent, contained fish. Thirty-nine black-headed gulls were 

 obtained in the vicinity of the Sohvay Fishery and the Bute 



