THE COMMON GULL. 
351 
They may be observed at this time feeding greedily on the earth- 
worms and larvse, driven out of the ground by severe floods ; and 
the fish, on which they prey in fine weather in the sea, leave the 
surface when storms prevail and go deeper.”* 
There is a poetic version of the same idea common to old 
people in the north of Ireland : — 
“ Sea-gull, sea-gull. 
Sit on the sand. 
It’s never fair weather 
When you come to land.” 
No doubt they are partial to inland trips when the country is 
flooded, and during storms ; but I have particularly remarked that 
a tract of low-lying meadows near Belfast is, when under water, 
always visited by them, in calm as well as storm, in fine and bright, 
as well as in dull and cloudy weather; — the flood, occur when it 
may, is an all-sufficient attraction : — young birds of the year, too, 
make their way to this locality at the first flood of the season. 
The storm seems to prompt these gulls to flight whether they be 
at sea or inland, and I have frequently — perhaps as often — re- 
marked them during storms to fly from the land to the sea, as in 
the opposite direction. They fly inland, too, during storms, 
though there have not been any floods, and often keep at a con- 
siderable elevation at such times. Sir Walter Scott, in the follow- 
ing lines, alludes to the approach of the storm being known to 
these birds : — - 
“ Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew ! 
And, gentle ladye, deign to stay ! 
Rest thee in Castle Ravenscheuch, 
Nor tempt the stormy frith to-day. 
“ The blackening wave is edged with white ; 
To inch and rock the sea-mews fly ; 
The fishers have heard the water-sprite, 
Whose screams forebode that wreck is nigh.” 
Lay of the Last Minstrel , canto vi. 
On the 20th March, 1834, the ground being remarkably dry, 
as no rain had fallen for the preceding three weeks — (and, as 
* * Salmonia,’ p. 193, 2nd edit. 
