Order LARIFORMES.i 



[Family LARID^E. 



LAEUS SCOPULINL T S 



(RED-BILLED GULL.) 



Larus scopulinus, Forster ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 55. 



In New Zealand we have an excellent proof of the wisdom of protective legislation in the numbers 

 and increasing tameness of the Sea-gulls that now frequent our harbours and estuaries. Not only 

 are these birds very ornamental as they rest on the wharves and jetties, or hover lightly among 

 the shipping at its anchorage, but they do good service to mankind as scavengers of the sea by 

 devouring the garbage which will inevitably find its way into the water in the vicinity of human 

 habitations, and which, unless consumed, decomposes and vitiates the atmosphere. On my last 

 visit to Auckland I was much interested at seeing scores of Sea-gulls of both species (Larus 

 dominicanus and L. scopulinus) crowded together on the ridge-boards of the sheds on the Queen- 

 street Wharf, in the very midst of the busy traffic. After years of rigid protection the birds have 

 become quite familiar with the presence of man, and are, indeed, practically domesticated. What 

 will happen in the course of time I saw exemplified at Glasgow, where hundreds of Kittiwake 

 Gulls are to be seen all day long disporting themselves in the turbid waters of the Eiver Kelvin, 

 as it flows through the grounds in front of the Hunterian Museum. They are just as fearless and 

 confident as domestic fowls, being wholly indifferent to the stream of passengers to and fro on both 

 sides of the river. I met with another instance of this at Blairquhan, the country seat of Sir 

 Edward Hunter-Blair, Bart. Here, owing to the close protection given to a small lake in the park, 

 a couple of hundred Wild-duck had become perfectly tame, and would come up every day to the 

 keeper's house to be fed. These same birds on being seen on the Eiver Girvan close by, where 

 shooting is allowed, are as shy as ever. So much for the intelligence of the common Wild-duck, 

 which has learned to regard the park lake as a sanctuary, where it is perfectly safe from 

 molestation ! But to return to the Sea-gulls. The manner in which they have increased in 

 Wellington Harbour during the last few years, in spite of advancing traffic, is a striking proof of 

 the efficacy of this protection. At Pitone, where the Gear Meat-freezing Works are situated, there 

 is of necessity a considerable discharge of refuse matter, and the number of Sea-gulls, of both 

 species, that congregate there on the beaches and gravel-banks is something surprising. 



On my last visit to Tokanu, on Lake Taupo, I noticed many hundreds of birds flying 

 overhead, and the natives assured me these were the Tarapunga (Larus scopulinus) on their 

 regular migration from the Botoaira Lake. This was on the 25th October. The birds were at a 

 considerable elevation, presenting peculiar combinations ; at one time flying in closely-packed 

 lines, then forming into a wedge-shape, and then scattering again like a flock of crows, and 

 uttering all the time loud cries of TceJc—JceJc — JceJc. Large contingents of the birds had already 

 arrived, and were to be seen crowding together in large numbers on the exposed sand-banks, 

 just above the surface of the water. 



Around the head of the Thames Gulf there are tens of thousands of acres of low-lying flats 

 that are covered with water only at the highest spring tides. A short kind of sandfire grows 

 plentifully over the ground, which is infested with the small black crickets, the surface being honey- 

 combed with their burrows. They are here in millions. On the slightest alarm they scuttle off to 

 find shelter, and it is amusing to see half a dozen of them at a time trying to squeeze into a hole 



