214 American Birds 



without a single flap of the wings, makes rapid headway 

 straight against the wind. I've seen one retain perfect 

 poise and at the same time reach forward with his foot and 

 scratch an ear. 



The gulls are more common along the Pacific Coast 

 than along the Atlantic. All through the West the gull 

 is a versatile bird, for although he is born for the water, 

 he seems to be as much at home hunting about the fields' 

 as on the ocean. In Utah the gulls that nest about the 

 Great Salt Lake fly all through the surrounding coun- 

 try and visit the beet fields, where they catch crickets, 

 grasshoppers, and cutworms. Mice are very plentiful 

 in the alfalfa fields, and when the land is irrigated and 

 the water drives these pests from their holes the gulls 

 are always on hand and snap them up as soon as they 

 appear. The gulls are sacred in Utah; they are of so 

 much value to the farmers that they are protected in 

 every way. 



In southern California and Oregon I have watched 

 flocks of gulls leave the ocean and rivers at daybreak 

 every morning and sail inland for miles, where they skir- 

 mish about the country and hunt a living for themselves. 

 I have watched a flock of them follow the plough all day 

 long, just as the blackbirds do, fighting at the farmer's 

 heels for angleworms. Others rummage daily about the 

 pig-pens and gorge on the offal that is thrown out from 

 the slaughter-houses. But I have never seen the gulls 

 spend the night about these places. Toward evening they 

 begin to collect in bands arid sail back to the ocean, where 

 they can bathe and sleep. If any bird is useful to man, 

 the gull Is certainly of great economic importance as a 



