108 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 



the sprats were thrown out not one was left. 

 After feeding the birds in this manner for a 

 week, I prepared a test meal of two hundred 

 sprats. A small hole was made in each fish, and 

 a few grains of methylene blue inserted — no 

 sprats of less than five inches in length were 

 used. 



At 8.10 a.m. on December 22nd these 

 prepared sprats were thrown down and taken 

 as usual. At 11.5 a.m. more sprats were thrown 

 out, and as the gulls flocked round seven were 

 shot by gunners concealed in the cowshed, and 

 secured before they could disgorge. Six out of 

 the seven had taken prepared fish, as proved by 

 the fact that the contents of the birds were 

 stained an intense blue. 



On the plate opposite is shown the material 

 found in the first specimen. The first five rows 

 represent 53 water snails; the sixth and seventh 

 rows, a piece of coal and 22 stones ; the eighth, 

 .ninth, and half the tenth row, greasy material, 

 debris, and blades of vegetation. The last eight 

 objects in the tenth row represent all that re- 

 mained of a sprat taken three hours previously. 

 These are mainly the remains of a few vertebrae, 

 but the globular object fourth from the end calls 



