178 THE GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 



On the coast of Labrador, I frequently saw these birds seize flounders on the 

 edges of the shallows; they often attempted to swallow them whole, but, 

 finding this impracticable, removed to some rock, beat them, and tore them 

 to pieces. They appear to digest feathers, bones, and other hard substances 

 with ease, seldom disgorging their food, unless for the purpose of feeding 

 their young or mates, or when wounded and approached by man, or when 

 pursued by some bird of greater power. While at Boston in Massachusetts, 

 one cold winter morning, I saw one of these Gulls take up an eel, about 

 fifteen or eighteen inches in length, from a mud bank. The Gull rose with 

 difficulty, and after some trouble managed to gulp the head of. the fish, and 

 flew towards the shore with it, when a White-headed Eagle made its appear- 

 ance, and soon overtook the Gull, which reluctantly gave up the eel, on 

 which the Eagle glided towards it, and, seizing it with its talons, before it 

 reached the water, carried it off. 



This Gull is excessively shy and vigilant, so that even at Labrador we 

 found it difficult to procure it, nor did we succeed in obtaining more than 

 about a dozen old birds, and that only by stratagem. They watched our 

 movements with so much care as never to fly past a rock behind which one 

 of the party might be likely to lie concealed. None were shot near the 

 nests when they were sitting on their eggs, and only one female attempted 

 to rescue her young, and was shot as she accidentally flew within distance. 

 The time to surprise them was during violent gales, for then they flew close 

 to the tops of the highest rocks, where we took care to conceal ourselves for 

 the purpose. When we approached the rocky islets on which they bred, 

 they left the place as soon as they became aware of our intentions, cackled 

 and barked loudty, and when we returned, followed us at a distance more 

 than a mile. 



They begin to moult early in Jul} 1 -. In the beginning of August the 

 young were seen searching for food by themselves, and even far apart. By 

 the 12th of that month they had all left Labrador. We saw them after- 

 wards along the coast of Newfoundland, and while crossing the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, and found them over the bays of Nova Scotia, as we proceeded 

 southward. When old, their flesh is tough and unfit for food. Their 

 feathers are elastic, and good for pillows and such purposes, but can rarely be 

 procured in sufficient quantity. 



The most remarkable circumstance relative to these birds is, that they 

 either associate with another species, giving rise to a hybrid brood, or that 

 when very old they lose the dark colour of the back, which is then of the 

 same tint as that of the Larus argentatus, or even lighter. This curious 

 fact was also remarked by the young gentlemen who accompanied me to 

 Labrador; and although it is impossible for me to clear up the doubts that 



