IQQ SILVERY GULL. 



were with difficulty obtained, unless we approached them under cover. The 

 least noise made them instantly leave their perch, and although there were 

 six of us, each furnished with a good gun, and some sufficiently expert, not 

 more than a dozen were killed that day, and all of them while flying. The 

 moment one started, it would sound an alarm, on which hundreds would rise 

 and sail over us, at such a height that it was useless to shoot at them. Now 

 and then, one accidentally passing low over the woods, was brought down. 

 While returning in the evening we shot one at a great height, having merely 

 broken the tip of its wing. Having caught it, we placed it on the narrow 

 path, on which it ran before us nearly to the house of the Governor, as Cap- 

 tain Frankland is called. It offered no resistance, but bit severely, and 

 now and then lay down to rest for a few moments. It ran fast enough to 

 keep several yards before us, cackling all the while, and once suddenly made 

 off from the path at a rapid rate. 



Their flight is as strong as that of the Great Black-backed Gull, but more 

 buoyant as well as graceful. During the love season their aerial evolutions 

 are extremely beautiful; they pass through the air in wide circlings, at a 

 great height, and then come down in curious zigzags until near the tops of 

 the trees, or the surface of the sea. While in pursuit of fish, they dart in 

 curved lines with great rapidity, frequently wheeling suddenly when over 

 their prey, and falling towards it. When travelling, they pass indifferently 

 over the land or the water, but generally at a considerable height. Their 

 food consists principally of herrings, of which they destroy great numbers, 

 following the shoals. They also feed on other fishes of small size, shrimps, 

 crabs, and shell-fish, as well as on young birds and small quadrupeds, and 

 suck all the eggs they can find. The rocky shores of the islands on which 

 I found them breeding are covered with multitudes of sea-urchins, having 

 short greenish spines, which give them the semblance of a ball of moss. At 

 low water the Herring Gulls frequently devour these animals, thrusting their 

 bill through the shell, and sucking its contents. They also take up shells in 

 the air, and drop them on the rocks to break them. We saw one that had 

 met with a very hard mussel, take it up and drop it three times in succes- 

 sion, before it succeeded in breaking it, and I was much pleased to see the 

 bird let it fall each succeeding time from a greater height than before. They 

 seem to go out to sea in search of food at particular periods, setting out at 

 the first ebb and returning to the shore as the tide rises. 



The young are at first fed chiefly with shrimps and other small Crustacea, 

 which are picked up from the mud-bars or along the shores. They are then 

 of a deep rusty colour all over, and when fully feathered they retain a good 

 deal of that hue, but the feathers are edged with light grey or brown; the 

 feet and legs are of a greenish-blue colour, inclining to purple; the bill dusky 



