148 BIRDS IN LONDON 



appear on the Thames, a body of two or three 

 hundred of these birds settled down in the 

 park water, and fed there every day and all 

 day long until the following spring — March 

 1897. 



A favourite pastime of mine during the 

 winter months was to feed these park gulls with 

 sprats, which were plentiful and could be bought 

 anywhere for one penny a pound, or in quantities 

 for about a farthing the pound. Gulls cannot 

 live by bread alone ; it is true that even in 

 London they do not, like the blubber-eating 

 Greenlander, spew it out of their mouths, for 

 they will eat almost anything, but it is not 

 partaken of with zest, and even with a crop-full 

 they do not feel that they have dined. However 

 much bread they had had, no sooner would 

 they see the silvery gleam of a little tossed-up 

 sprat than there would be a universal scream of 

 exciterdent, a rush from all sides, and the whole 

 white vociferous crowd would be gathered before 

 me, almost brushing my face with their wings, 

 sweeping round and round, joyfully feasting on 

 the little fishes, cast to them in showers, to be 

 deftly caught before they touched the water. 



Some of the birds, bolder or more intelligent 



