THE IIERllINCr GULL. 
341 
men the siinsliine of their too short summer ; and, unlike the 
I.esser Black-hacked and the Kittiwake, it stands hy them 
through all the tem2)ests of the long winter. The first bird 
astir in the morning, and equally at home afloat, ashore, or 
soaring high in the air, the “White Maa” is an element in 
Shetland life and scenery without which much of its character 
would be lost. 
In the winter the Herring Gulls form large flocks, coming 
inland freely, sometimes with a few Glaucous Gulls in com- 
pany. Wet weather is almost sure to attract them inland, and 
I have noticed that they as often as not come in before the 
rain has appeared. Their visits to the fields are, however, not 
always for the benefit of the cultivator, much good though 
they may do in the winter and early spring by destroying the 
worms, grubs, &c., turned up by the plough ; for a casual scarcity 
of fish will cause them to resort to the turnips, where they will 
in a short time do the most serious mischief. I have known a 
large field of turnips half destroyed by them, the roots being 
scooped quite hollow. They seem to dislike the outer portion, 
interfering with it as little as possible, and only removing 
enough to enable them to reach the softer parts within. 
Sometimes a Gull may be seen with its head completely hidden 
inside a turnip, but, as if conscious of its danger, constantly 
withdrawing it, and casting a glance all round, to guard against 
a surprise. It must be owned also that they take a heavy fee 
for the service they render in following the plough, for they 
return to the field when it is newly sown, and pick up every 
gTain of oats or barley left uncovered by the soil. It has been 
said that, in consequence of this habit of grain-feeding, the 
coats of the stomach become unusually thickened in spring. 
This may be true, but among most of the sea-birds which I 
have examined there has been great irregularity in this respect. 
In the Herring Gull especially they have been as much 
thickened in autumn as in spring, and again in the latter season 
they have been unusually thin. The flocks of these birds 
which sometimes whiten the lawn at Halligarth long before 
