Natatores. BIRDS. Larida!:. 
428 
titles. Its courage, however, is not equal to its size 
and strength ; and the sea-eagles and even the larger 
gulls will attack it boldly and compel it to give up 
its prey. It is said sometimes to attack sailors who 
fall overboard, and is frequently captured by means 
of a hook baited with a piece of meat, and trailed along 
at the stern of a ship. The eggs of this bird and its 
allies, which are of a large size, are deposited upon the 
rocky and desolate islands scattered over the ocean 
which they frequent; they are said to he exceedingly 
good, and, like the young birds, are eaten by the sealers 
and whalers. 
Family V. — LAIITD.®. 
In this family, of which our common Gulls furnish 
well-known and characteristic examples, the wings are 
well developed, and the birds possess a great power of 
flight. The bill is variable in its form, but generally 
rather elongated and compressed, not furnished with 
a distinct tip as in the preceding family, and the nostrils 
Fig. 135. 
form linear or oval slits in the sides of the upper man- 
dible without any trace of tubular structure — fig. 135. 
The feet, which are placed moderately forward, so as 
to enable the birds to walk with ease, are generally 
small ; the three anterior toes are long and united by 
a complete membrane, and the hinder toe is small and 
elevated on the back of the tarsus. 
The.se birds are generally distributed and numerous 
in most parts of the world, but are most abundant iii 
the Northern and Southern seas. They fly well, and 
float very lightly and buoyantly upon the surface of the 
waves, but do not swim much, and are incapable of 
those remarkable diving exercises which compensate 
so many of the short-winged species for the imperfec- 
tion of their power of flight. They are generally noisy, 
screaming birds, which live together in considerable 
flocks, and breed in company upon the ledges ox pre- 
cipitous rocks ; their food consists chiefly of fishes, 
which they capture by dashing down into the water 
as they skim lightly and swiftly above its surface ; but 
they by no means confine themselves to this diet, and 
many of them feed freely even upon carrion. 
THE COMMON GULL [Lanis ctmus), oiie of the most 
abundant of the British species of this family, occurs 
also in most parts of Europe and in North America. 
It is about eighteen inches in length, and is of a pearl- 
gray colour above ; the head and neck and lower surface 
are white ; the secondaries and tertials are fipiied with 
white, and the primaries are black on the outer webs, 
with a white patch near the tips of the first and second. 
The bill is greenish-gray, becoming yellow towards the 
tip, and the feet are of a dark-greenish colour. 
This bird is common on most parts of our coasts 
throughout the year, but is more abundant in some 
places than in others. It may be seen walking about 
upon the shore or sand-bank.s engaged in picking up 
any portions of food left by the tide, or taking short 
flights over the shallow water, to seize upon small 
fishes and other floating objects. It may also fre- 
quently he seen in some districts at a distance of sevei al 
miles from the sea, following the ploughs in order to 
jiick up the insects and grubs ; and it is by no means 
uncommon for it to advance many miles along the 
course of a tidal river. The Common Gull breeds on 
the ledge of a cliff, wherever the coast presents such 
conveniences ; on flat shores, it breeds in the marshes, 
or on low sandy islands. The nest is i-ather large, and 
is composed of sea-weeds and grass ; tlie female lays 
two or three eggs. 
THE GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL {Larus marinus) 
is a constant inhabitant of our coasts, although by 
no means so numerous as the species just described. 
It is a large bird, measuring as much as thirty 
inches in length, and is very predacious in its habits, 
destroying not only fish, which may be looked upon as 
its natural prey, but also small birds and even weakly 
lambs. 
THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL [Larus fuscus) 
closely resembles tbe preceding species in its general 
appearance, but is less than two feet in length. It is 
an abundant species about the British coasts, and is 
widely distributed over the seas of the Old World. 
This species always breeds on the ledges of rocks, 
making a nest of grass, in which the female lays two 
or three eggs. The old birds are very bold in defence 
of their eggs and young, dashing towards any intruder, 
to frighten him from the vicinity of the nest, and 
sometimes actually striking him with their bills. In 
other respects the habits of this bird resemble those of 
the preceding species. 
THE HERRING GULL an abundant 
and widelj'-distributed species in both hemispheres, is 
a little larger than the last species, with which it asso- 
ciates most amicably, usually breeding in the same 
locality. It has the head, neck, and lower surface pure 
white, and the back and wings delicate French gray; 
the tertials are tipjied with white, and the primaries are 
black, with small white spots at the extremities of the 
first tliree. The bill is yellow, with the apex of the 
lower mandible red, and the feet are flesh colour. The 
Herring Gull receives its name from its ])artiality to 
small fish, in ])ursuit of which it approaches the boats 
of tbe fishermen with great holdness. 
THE LITTLE GULL {Larus mimitus) is the smallest 
sjiecies of this family, measuring little more than ten 
inches in length. It has the head and upper part of 
the neck black ; the lower part of the neck white ; the 
upper surface i)ale ashy-gray, with the primaries darker. 
