on the food of birds.



231



ornithologist can point to the benefits conferred on man by

the Barn-Owl, or White Owl, as it is termed. The Owl is one of

the seven birds which receive throughout the administrative county

of Norfolk a so-called protection by order of our County Council

during the whole of the year, but if the word “ Owl ” is to be under¬

stood in a generic sense, I fear the law here is little better than a

dead letter. There is one engine of destruction, the pole-trap, which



Contents other than Fish found in Black-headed , Common, and

Herring Gulls.





Black-headed

Gull.



Common


Gull.



Herring


Gull.





Per cent.



Per cent.



Per cent.



Fish of ail varieties present in



280



24-5



18-2



,, useful as human food present in .



13-5



17-5



10-4



,, useless as human food present in .



14-5



7-0



7-8



Marine Food other than Fish .-









Shrimps (Pandalus and C. vulgaris)



27-0



14-6



52



Lugworms (Arenicola marina).



7'6



2-4



—



Bagworms (various Polychatce)



6-7



3-7



—



Molluscs .......



4-8



3-7



7-8



Small Crustacea .....



8*5



2-4



2-6



Crabs (various shore Crabs)



7-7



7-3



16-9



Echiuoderms—









Starfish, Brittle Stars, Sea Urchins .



—



—



18-2



Whelk-spawn (Buccinum undatum)



—



—



10-4



Land Food:









Earthworms ......



18-3



18-5



6*5



Wire worms ......



3-8



•o



•0



Beetles.



9-6



1-2



1-3



Cranedies ......



5-7



11-0



1-3



Other insects ......



3-8



8-5



1-3



Cereals .......



2-9



11-0



19-5



Garbage .



3-8



13-4



11-7



used to kill all comers—Owls, Hawks, Cuckoos, Woodpeckers, etc.—

but this, having become illegal in 1904, is much less used than

formerly, although there are still several gamekeepers who employ

it, being unaware that they are thereby rendering themselves liable

to a fine of forty shillings.


In October and November the farmers round Norwich are

fond of manuring their fields with what are sold as “ gyps,” i. e. the

gills and insides of Herrings. As eight hundred and twenty-four

million (824,000,000) Herrings were brought into Great Yarmouth

this autumn, “ gyps ” were cheap. Unless this unsavoury garbage



