CHAPTER XXV 



THE GULL FAMILY 



That grand bird, the Great Black-backed Gull, 

 Carrion Gull, or Cob, as he is more generally called, 

 is one of the greatest feathered ornaments that our 

 shores and waters can boast of at the present time ; 

 for the bird's cleanly-cut, well-contrasted plumage 

 of black and white is as pure as the water that 

 ripples over his dainty webbed feet. He is a bird 

 for all weathers ; sunshine or storm, winter or 

 summer, make not the least difference to him, he 

 beats up and down the coast-lines and over the tide. 

 As a rule they are pairs, sometimes single, except 

 during the netting season. Then they come, like 

 the marine vultures that they are, from wild, out- 

 of-the-way places known only to themselves. When 

 that is over, for a time they beat back again to 

 where they started from. A very wide-awake and 

 cautious bird is the Cob. 



The young Cobs, like other inexperienced crea- 

 tures, come to grief for want of knowing how to 

 take care of themselves at times ; but not too often, 

 for they inherit the instinct of self-preservation from 



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