THE HERRING GULL 



All winter, a traveler along the seashore sees the great gray 

 gulls wheeling gracefully through the air with outstretched wings, 

 floating lightly on the water, or sitting in long lines or compact 

 masses on the bars or flats which are exposed at low tide. The 

 harbors of all the northern seacoast cities are visited in winter by 

 numbers of these birds, constantly on the watch for any bits of refuse 

 which may be thrown from the wharfs or vessels, or brought down 

 by the tides or currents. Their long and powerful wings make 

 the flight of even so heavy a bird a sight beautiful to watch, 

 and the water looks deserted when the motion and color which the 

 gulls furnish is absent. But it is not to the eye alone that the 

 birds appeal. 



The ceaseless activity of the gulls in pursuit of floating refuse 

 and their inordinate appetite make them invaluable scavengers ; 

 without them, the refuse dumped into the water would return at 

 each tide to pollute the shore. No idea can be formed of the value 

 of the service performed by the gulls, till one sees the countless 

 throngs which hover over the dumping grounds in the lower New 

 York Bay, awaiting the arrival of the scows with the refuse from 

 that city. As the buzzards and vultures are protected in all warm 

 countries for their services in devouring carrion, so ought these 

 scavengers of the northern seas to be guarded from persecution. 



The adult Herring Gull in full plumage has pure white under- 

 parts, head and tail, but a gray mantle, as it is termed, is spread over 

 the wings. Young birds, however, show many shades of brown, and 



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