332 LARID^. 



though the flesh is a httle coarse in texture^ it is agreeable 

 to the taste." 



Under the date of November 8, 1833, I noted that the 

 boklucss and impertinence of a young black-headed guU at the 

 Falls pond much amused me. It was one of eight nestlings 

 brought by us from Eam's Island in June : of the others, foiu- 

 died within the first two or three ' weeks, and the remaining 

 three (noticed in connection with the slugs) when thriving remark- 

 ably well disappeared, having been probably killed by rats or 

 stoats. On a quantity of potatoes being thrown upon the bank 

 of the pond for the various species of wild-fowl there, this gull, 

 although there was abundance of food for all, drove away shell- 

 drakes, mallards, brent-geese, &c., pecking with its bill at them 

 whenever they approached sufiiciently near, and giving utterance 

 to its shrill jarring cry all the time. It followed the shelldrakes 

 for some yards until it drove them furiously into the pond. Even 

 lifting up its head from the food, and merely looking at the 

 brent geese, but in such a manner, indeed, as to say, ' be off, or 

 stay at your peril,^ they wheeled about, and ran away. These 

 geese are very meek and gentle in deportment, with which their 

 half-mourning plumage well accords. It seemed to be througli 

 sheer miscliief that this gull persecuted the other birds, as the 

 potatoes were so widely spread that there was abundant room for 

 aU of them to feed at once. I have observed a black-headed gull, 

 too, in a wild state, drive a lapwing boldly away when its feeding- 

 ground was approached. 



The examination of the stomachs of a number of these gulls at 

 various times, and at all seasons, proved them to be almost omni- 

 vorous : some contained the remains of fish, mollusca {Rissoa 

 labiosa, R. idvce, &c.), Crustacea (such as Idotece, shrimps, &c.), 

 earth-worms, coleopterous insects, grains of wheat (in one stomach 

 there were fifteen perfect grains), conferva, and other vegetable 

 matter. 



The preying of these gulls on moths has been alluded to in 

 connection with their breeding-haunts in Mayo. They are com- 

 monly sought after, in the summer evenings, so late as nine o'clock, 



