THE GULL. 159 



easily follow and circle round a steamer. On the land 

 they run about actively, without the usual waddle of 

 a water-fowl, but with a pretty mincing gait peculiarly 

 their own ; and on the water they sit lightly and 

 gracefully, though they do not swim very fast and 

 cannot usually dive at all. In case of need, they 

 perch readily enough, though their feet are not 

 suited for taking a grip of anything, and they have 

 to rely upon balance. 



Above all, they are very easily accommodated with 

 food ; fish they like when they can get it, but they 

 are not very clever fishers, and their best opportunity 

 is when the hapless fry are hard beset by the 

 bigger members of the class below, and are not in a 

 condition to look after themselves ; and so they 

 fall back on insect and vegetable food and garbage 

 of various sorts, including especially what is thrown 

 overboard from ships and fishing-boats. It may 

 be that their scarcity in warm seas is due to the 

 comparative rarity ot ships and fishing stations 

 therein ; but, it is also very possible that heat does 

 not suit most Gulls' constitutions. At any rate, 

 two non-Indian species, the common Gull {Lams 

 carnis) and the Great Black-backed Gull {Larus 

 marinus), did not thrive in captivity at the Alipore 

 Zoo, where the Brown-headed Gull and its smaller 

 relative have done very well. 



