THE BLACK-HEADED GULL. 
299 
Twamley alludes to in these lines. Most of the Gulls utter 
a cry which at times more or less resembles a burst of shrill 
laughter : — 
Hark! was not that a shrilly echoing cry? 
No ; — 'twas the Sea-gull fleetly wheeling by, 
Roused by the storm that chafes along the deep, 
E'en from his lofty eyrie on the steep, 
And to the loud blast pealing o'er the tide, 
Her wild shrill scream, or demon laugh replied 
As if in triumph. 
To this we may add Bishop Mant's spirited lines :— 
But see, for not from viewless height. 
But, wheeling low with swooping flight, 
Flaps his long wings, the loud Sea Mew ; 
His back and sides of sober hue, 
And wings of fleecy brightness gleam. 
Slow waving in the sunny beam : 
Of all the tribes of ocean none 
Less prompt the haunts of men to shun ; 
None more alert in frequent flocks, 
At winter's call, their cavern' d rocks 
To quit, and from the sea-wash'd shoro 
Fly inland ; there to hover o'er 
Freshet, or stream, or running brook. 
The trout's lov'd haunt ; or with the rook 
The new- turn' d furrows' banquet share, 
Nor for their native billows care. 
The Black-headed Gull, as Yarrell and others call the 
second-named of the above species, is very like the Laugh- 
ing Gull of America just described, to which the term 
Black-headed is also sometimes applied. It is somewhat 
smaller than that species, seldom exceeding sixteen inches 
in length. The head and throat of this bird are deep 
brown, becoming nearly black behind ; the lower parts are 
white, slightly tinged with rose colour ; the back and wings 
are bluish grey ; the quill feathers are black and white, as 
in the last species. There is the same crescent before the 
eye, and grey patch behind it ; and the legs and bill are of 
the same rich red colour. Where then is the difference ? 
Why, in the smaller size, the shorter bill and feet, and 
* mask,' as the deep shade over the head and breast is 
