362 LARID^. 



peared to be all young birds of the year. Wild ducks, wigeon, 

 and teal"^ were in great flocks in the bay upon the day on 

 which the large bodies of gulls appeared. Tliey moved southward 

 also. Tli^re was no storm to bring these birds here ; the wind was 

 from various points, with very frequent changes, during the whole 

 month of September ; there was no breeze until the 27 th ; — 

 on the 29th and 30th it blew hard. 



The Lams ridihundus and L. atricllla have had the name of 

 laughing gull bestowed upon them, but the only species acknow- 

 ledged as a laugher by the shooters in Belfast Bay is the herring- 

 gull. It takes circuits in the air, uttering all the while a laugh- 

 ing note, which has really been interpreted as such by an old 

 shooter of my acquaintance, who has frequently shot the poor 

 bird merely for — as he believed — laughing at him. 



Gulls of all species which have been through the day feeding 

 high up the estuary, and about the oozy banks of the Lagaii, are 

 said by good observers to collect together in a flock at the " dusk 

 of the evening," from autumn to spring, and go to deep water to 

 remain for the night. Daring this evening flight their various 

 calls, described as musically mournful, are uttered ; but on re- 

 turning to the shallows at the early dawn of the morning they 

 are silent, and then fly in a scattered manner. A similar diil'erence 

 between the morning and evening flight of some of the Anatidce 

 has been already noticed. 



Manner of Feeding, ^-c. — A " play of gulls," as it is called 

 upon the coast, and which in summer we daily witness in the 

 vicinity of the great breeding stations — often from the summit of 

 ranges of majestic cHfl's, whence we gaze upon a great expanse of 

 ocean — is a most lively and beautiful spectacle, and a suitable 

 subject for the graphic pen of the author of ' Wild Sports of the 

 AVest.^ To use his words — " We were bearing down to a glorious 

 play of sea-birds, and I got a gun uncased to practise at the 

 guUs. It was a curious and bustling scene. Above, thousands 

 of these birds were congregated in a small circle, screaming and 



* Tliirty-fivc teal were killed iu the moruiug by two skootcrs, cleveu of which 

 were bi'ought dowu by an ordiuai-y musket charge. 



