The California Gull 



Taken on Paoha Island 



ture's appraisers, mark 

 these fluent notes of 

 whit e-a n d-fl e s h-a n d- 

 gray and smear them 

 upon canvass, or weave 

 them into distiches, ac- 

 cording to their kind. 

 And last of all, plain 

 mortals, who know not 

 exactly why they are 

 glad at the seashore, and 

 care not so they are so, 

 these borrow also of the 

 gull the fuel of those un- 

 questioned fires of aver- 

 age content. And though 

 we may appraise the 

 blueness of waters and 

 the brightness of skies 

 and the genial warmth of 

 sands, it is, after all, the 

 gulls and their kind who 

 give the crowning touch 

 of life to any littoral 

 scene. 



The Pacific shores in 

 winter are highly favored 

 by an abundant and a 

 would-be friendly host of 

 northern pilgrims, among 

 them gulls of eight or 

 nine varieties. And of these the California Gull is most closely attached 

 to the ferry boats of the Bay Cities and to the coastwise steamers which 

 ply from Crescent City to San Diego. These gulls play pilot, hovering 

 angel, and passenger, by turns; and often, for the sheer humor of the thing, 

 trail doggedly behind, as though flying, forsooth, were hard work. 



The gulls take a lively interest in the passengers, but it is the cook 

 who has the key to the gull heart. It is for his sake alone that the birds 

 have forsworn the sunny beaches and have attached themselves to the 

 caravels of commerce. 



Photo by the A uthor 



LARUS CALIFORNICUS 



'He may live without love — what is passion but pining? 

 But where is the gull that can live without dining?" 



1400 



