IIEll RING-GULL. 
3 
protruding their heads above tlie surface of the water, the throat and a portion of the belly being red and 
swollen *. 
The Jackdaws having proved exceedingly mischievous some years hack on the Bass, the tenant of the rock 
placed bread and butter well seasoned witli poison on the ledges to which they resorted. This proceeding 
certainly had the desired effeet, as it cleared off the Daws ; the larger Gulls, however, also suffered so heavily 
that since tliat date but two or three nests of either the Ilerring- or Lesser Blaek-backed Gull have been met 
with on the grassy slopes on the Bass, formerly a well-frequented breeding-ground. The situation selected for 
nesting-purposes by this species renders their eggs extremely liable to fall a prey to unscrupulous visitors who 
explore the upper portions of the rock; consequently it is unlikely that these Gulls will again become 
numerous in this locality. Some years back I was a witness to the prompt chastisement administered to an 
egg-stealer endeavouring to make his way off the rocks wdtli pockets distended by plunder. A custom in those 
days prevailed among the farmers in the district to give a holiday annually to their labourers, wdien the 
wUole party w^ere conveyed for an outing to the Bass ; on such occasions extra precautions were necessary in 
order to prevent the nests on the higher ledges of the rock being robbed of their contents. Three or four of 
the boatmen from Canty Bay were usually stationed at the upper part of the old fortifications in order to put a 
stop to any infringement of the regulations ; and on this occasion easily detecting the large number of eggs 
that an overgrown laddie w^as attempting to carry off, the culprit, having previously protested his innocence, 
was tripped up and rolled for a time on the grass. Oh ! what a mess that poor laddie ^vas in ! It is 
highly improbable that the Gulls’ eggs suffered from his attentions on the occasion of his next visit to 
the rock. 
On the shoal water that stretches at low tide for many miles round some of the dangerous outlying 
sand-banks off our eastern coasts, I have remarked large bodies of these Gulls, together with the Larger and 
the Lesser Black-backed Gulls, busily engaged in darting dowm open-mouthed to the waves, plunging their heads 
below the surface and apparently endeavouring to capture fish. The distance at Avhich the birds wm*e watched 
Avas invariably too great to clearly ascertain the nature of their prey, Avhich AA^as evidently extremely abundant. 
Having had my attention draAAui to the w'ounds seen on numbers of codling taken in Yarmouth harbour t, 
I came to the conclusion that the cuts could only have been inflicted by the sharp beak of some bird, and in 
all probability these Avere the fish of A\diich the Gulls were in pursuit. Out of ten score codling captured by 
the hook on one occasion, about tAventy exhibited deep cuts on the back and sides. Having repeatedly 
examined the injuries inflicted on fish A\dien fixed or bitten by congers, cuttle, or their larger relatives, I 
noticed that these wounds were totally different, being clean cuts, as if sliced Avith a knife — ^just such, in 
fact, as the sharp and powerful bills of Gulls AAmuld cause AA'licn, having seized the fish too near the tail, their 
slippery prey succeeded in escaping. The codling exhibiting these marks Avere of about the same length and 
bulk as an ordinary mackerel ; judging from the capabilities of Gulls kept in confinement, I should think 
that a fish of this size is about the utmost these birds can SAA'allow^ The skipper of one of the luggers to 
whom I shoAA'ed some of these fish was under the impression that the wounds must have been caused by the 
broken bolts in the old piles or wreckage about the harbour ; others thought the paddles of the tugs might be 
responsible ; considering, however, that the whole of the cuts w'ere either perfectly straight up and doAAm or at 
a very slight angle, they could hardly have been caused by these means. 
* For those who indulge in such luxuries as eel-pies it may not he out of place to mention that, as far as I was able to ascertain, there was no 
diminution in the quantity of eels sent off to the London market in consequence of the disease. 
t Formerly when the luggers brought up in the roads and the cargoes of herring were ferried ashore, the codling which arrived off the coast 
at that season did not enter the harbour in any numbers. Since the construction of the new fish-wharf at the river-side they have deserted their 
old quarters in the roads and make their way up the harbour in immense shoals, the quantity of broken fish and other refuse carried down by the 
tide having evidently attracted them to the spot. 
