CHAKADEIIFOKMBS. 



403 



Gulls and Tbbns (GAviyE). 



The Gulls and Terns are united into one family, the Larhlw. 

 They have long wings and either knife-like or hooked bills. 

 The three front toes are always webbed, and the fourth is often 

 very small. The true gulls {Lams) are the only ones we need 

 refer to. In this genus the fourth toe is placed high up on the 

 metatarsus ; the three front toes are 

 entirely palmate. The bill has a sharp 

 cutting edge, hooked at the tip of the 

 upper mandible. The tail is square 

 at the end. Gulls are normally fish- 

 eaters, feeding upon surface - fish and 

 dead fish along the coast ; garbage of 

 any kind is also devoured by them. 

 Very often, however, several of the 

 LariJip. pass many miles inland and 

 live upon various insects, especially 

 such destructive larvse as wireworm, 

 leather -jackets, and cockchafer grubs. 

 They may often be found, preceding 

 and during stormy weather, sixty and 

 seventy miles inland, following the 

 plough as readily as the rook, and 

 devouring with avidity the grubs 

 turned up during its progress across 



the fields. These birds usually appear maxuTo - paiautTe" vo, vomer; 

 inland, as on the coast, in flocks. Most pterygoidTe, quadrate. ^ ' ' 

 species breed on the coast, but some, 



such as the Black - headed Gull {Larus ridibundus), breed 

 inland on the banks of lakes and rivers and in marshes. The 

 young are nestlings. The Herring Gull {L. argentatus), as well 

 as the Common Gull {L. canus), must also be included amongst 

 those whose services are beneficial to us. Small mammals, such 



Skull of a Gull 

 (Larus), Schizognathous type. 



