THE OOLOGIST'S ADVERTISER. 



THE BURGOMASTER GULL. 



BY CELIA THAXTEK. 



lie old-wives sit on the heaving brine. 



White-breasted in the sun, 

 Preening and smoothing their feathers fine. 



And scolding every one. 

 The snowy kittiwakes overhead, 

 With beautiful beaks of gold. 

 And wings of ''elicate gray outspread. 



Float listening while they scold. 

 And a foolish guillemot swimming by 

 Though heavy and clumsy and dull, 

 Joins in with a will when he hears the cry 



'Gainst the Burgomaster Gull. 

 For every sea-bird, far and near. 



With an atom of brains in its skull. 

 Knows plenty of reason for hate and fear 



Of the Burgomaster Gull. 

 The black duck gather, with plumes so rich. 



And the coots In twinkling lines, 

 And the swift and slender water witch. 



Whose neck like silver shines. 

 Big eider ducks, with their caps pale green 



And their salmon-colored vests. 

 And gay mergansers, sailing between. 

 With their long and glittering crests. 

 But the loon aloof on the outer edge 



Of the noisy meeting keeps. 

 And laughs to watch them behind the ledge 



Where the lazy breakers sweep. 

 They scream and wheel, and dive and fret, 



And flutter in the foam, 

 And fish aud mussels blue they get 



To feed their young at home. 

 Till, hurrying in, the little auk 

 Brings tidings that benumbs, 

 And stops at once their clamorous talk— 



" The Burgomaster comes 1" 

 And up he sailed ,a splendid sight. 

 With "wings like banners" wioe, 

 And eager eyes, both big and bright. 



That peep on every side. 

 A lovely kittiwake flying past. 

 With a slippery pollock fine, 

 Quoth the Burgomaster, " not so fast. 



My beauty ! This is mine ! 

 His strong wing strikes with a dizzying shock, 



Poor kittiwake, shrieking, flies; 

 His booty he takes to the nearest rock, 



To devour it at his ease. 

 The scared birds scatter to left and t ight, 

 But the bold buccaneer in his glee. 



[fright 



Cares little enough for their woe and their 



" 'Twill be your turn next," cries he. 

 He sees not hidden behind the rock. 



In the sea-weed a small boat's hull, [flock 

 Nor dreams he the gunners have spared the 



For the Burgomaster Gull. 

 So proudly his dusky wings are spread, 

 And he launches out on the breeze,— 

 When lo ! what thunder of wrath and dread I 



What deadly pangs are these ! 

 The red blood drips and the feathers fly, 



Down drops the pinions wide ; 

 The robber-chief, with a bitter cry 



Falls headlong in the tide. 

 They bear him ofl' with laugh and shout ; 



The wary birds return,— 

 From the clove-brown feathers that float abont 



Tbe glorious news they learn. 

 Then such a tumult fills the place 



As never was sung or said ; 

 And all cry, wild with joy, " The base, 



Bad Burgomaster's dead !" 

 And the old-wives sit with their caps so white. 

 And their pretty beaks so red, [light. 



And swing on the billows and scream with de- 

 For the Burgomaster's dead ! 



TITBITS FROM OUK SCRAP BOOK. 



The Pied Billed Grebe is often called 

 Water-witch, Devil-diver and Dipper. 



The Old Wife is a name sometimes 

 given to the long tailed duck. It is also 

 called South Southerly and Old ^-^quHW. 

 The Nanakin was a genus of South 

 Ameri. an birds with crests upon the 

 iiead and of brilliant plumage. 



The Dodo, now extinct, was » large 

 clumsy bird which existed in Madagas- 

 car and the Mauritius Islands. It had 

 short wings like those of the ostrich 

 but a shorter neck and more clumsy 

 form. 



The Knot is a bird of the Snipe fam- 

 ily found in the northern regions of 

 America and Europe, and, when fat, 

 constituting a delicate article of food. 

 The name is said to be derived from 

 that of King Canute, this bird being a 

 favorite article of food with him. 



The Rhea or Touyou, a bird belong- 

 ing to the Ostrich family, is of a white- 

 o-ray color and remarkable for its swift- 

 ness in running. It is a native of Bra- 

 zil. 



