GULLS 127 



land. The specimens .were collected in Cornwall, 

 Suffolk, Linlithgowshire and Bute. 



The tofal contents of the thirty birds were 

 as follows : 



638 recognisable earthworms, besides a mass 

 of worm pulp. 



14 Wire worms. 



3 Flies — Diptera. 



2 Chrysalid goat moth. 



2 Larvae cockchafer. 



1 Earwig. 



1 Grasshopper. 



1 Hen's egg. 



Recognisable food fishes were present in 

 eight birds. 



Garbage in three birds. 



Forty per cent, contained cereals, consisting 

 of seed, germinating seed, young plants and 

 rootlets of wheat and oats. 



From this it will be seen that the land-feed- 

 ing habits of the common gull can hardly be 

 considered so beneficial to the farmer as to out- 

 weigh even the damage that this bird does to 

 fisheries on inland waters. 



The black-headed gull has been considered to 

 be the farmer's friend, but the good he does by 



