GULLS 115 



or wind seems to affect them. Strangely enough, they 

 are able to accelerate their speed without flapping the 

 wings, and a Gull hovering at the stem of a swiftly 

 moving steamer will suddenly fly ahead of and around 

 it, resuming its position at the stern without a single 

 wing-beat. Gulls fly by night as well as by day and 

 take very little, if any, sleep, for days at a time, resting 

 on the water for some hours and then resuming their 

 flight. 



Gulls have long and rather narrow wings, particu- 

 larly adapted for long-continued and powerful flight. 

 They flap the wings apparently with considerable 

 effort, but in spite of seeming exhaustion keep flap- 

 ping for hours at a time on inland streams or rivers 

 where the wind is hardly sufficient to buoy them up. 



All have powerful bills which serve in tearing their 

 food. The legs are short and delicate, the feet small 

 and webbed. Most species are white mixed with grey 

 or black, though in one or two forms a reddish tint is 

 visible on the feathenS. The plumage is exquisitely 

 soft and smooth and always in immaculate condition. 



Gulls nest in many different sites, but usually on 

 the ground, either among rocks or on the sandy shores. 

 Occasionally they build in trees. They eat a great 

 variety of food and are practically birds of prey, feed- 

 ing on small animals and the eggs and young of other 

 birds. This is particularly true of the Jaegers, who 

 keep the Murres, Puffins and Auks which nest in the 

 same localities constantly on the alert to protect their 

 nurseries from these marauders. 



The voice of the Gull is peculiarly harsh, and the 



