SEA-BIEDS AND WADEES 
When the traveller bound for Malaya boards his boat at 
the London docks hn cannot but be impressed with the sociable 
sea-gulls that circle round the boat or collect in a squealing 
flock at the stem, eagerly snatching and indeed squabbUng for 
any eatables thrown overboard. 
From the Thaines the screaming, wheeling crowd of 
herring gnlls, common gulls and black-backs escort the steamer 
a day or two from port but these city dwellers usually return 
to land after a short sea journey and perhaps their place is 
then taken by the dainty kitti wakes, the professional sailors 
who glory in the rough weather and hover about the boat all 
the way through the Channel and across the Bay where, no 
matter how bad the seas, they can alight on the water for a 
short rest and ride like a cork. 
Through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea one continues 
to see gulls and then, as the boat approaches Aden, the wharf 
loafers of that place fly out to meet the steamer and the 
ornithologist from home is delighted to see Larus hemf>ric}u 
which he no doubt here meets with in a state of nature for 
the first time. But once within Malayan waters the gulls are 
absent and never has an individual of any species been seen 
near Singapore or indeed anywhere in our Malayan waters ! 
Sometimes small, white, gull-like birds may be seen off the 
coast of Singapore, They usually travel in small flocks and 
their fairy-like flight and long, forked tails have earned for 
them in some parts of the world the name of "sea-swallows" 
;ilthoug]i they are more usually known as terns, and to the 
Malays as "burong chamar'*. The terns cannot be mistaken 
at sea. They have long, thin wings and also long and slender 
tails. They f!it about well over the water with heads hanging 
down, eagerly scanning the surface of the sea for food. • 
Occasionally there is a splash or a series of splashes as a 
shoal of unfortunate small fishes pass under the watching terns, 
for the birds throw themselves into the water with great 
gusto to get their prey. 
[75] 
