332 
LARIM. 
though the flesh is a little coarse in texture, it is agreeable 
to the taste.” 
Under the date of November 8, 1833, I noted that the 
boldness and impertinence of a young black -headed gull at the 
Falls pond much amused me. It was one of eight nestlings 
brought by us from Hands Island in June : of the others, four 
died within the first two or three weeks, and the remaining 
three (noticed in connection with the slugs) when thriving remark- 
ably well disappeared, having been probably killed by rats or 
stoats. On a quantity of potatoes being thrown upon the bank 
of the pond for the various species of wild-fowl there, this gull, 
although there w r as abundance of food for all, drove away shell- 
drakes, mallards, brent-geese, &c., pecking with its bill at them 
whenever they approached sufficiently near, and giving utterance 
to its shrill jarring cry all the time. It followed the shelldrakes 
for some yards until it drove them furiously into the pond. Even 
lifting up its head from the food, and merely looking at the 
brent geese, but in such a manner, indeed, as to say, f be off, or 
stay at your peril/ they wheeled about, and ran away. These 
geese are very meek and gentle in deportment, with which their 
half-mourning plumage well accords. It seemed to be through 
sheer mischief that this gull persecuted the other birds, as the 
potatoes were so widely spread that there was abundant room for 
all of them to feed at once. I have observed a black-headed gull, 
too, in a wild state, drive a lapwing boldly away when its feeding- 
ground was approached. 
The examination of the stomachs of a number of these gulls at 
various times, and at all seasons, proved them to be almost omni- 
vorous : some contained the remains of fish, mollusca ( Rissoct 
labiosa , if. ulva, & c.), Crustacea (such as Idotece, shrimps, &c.), 
earth- worijis, coleopterous insects, grains of wheat (in one stomach 
there were fifteen perfect grains), conferva , and other vegetable 
matter. 
The preying of these gulls on moths has been alluded to in 
connection with their breeding-haunts in Mayo. They are com- 
monly sought after, in the summer evenings, so late as nine o'clock, 
