24 
LAUGHING GULL. 
inclined, he may shoot them down without any difficulty, and the more he 
l^ills the more his chances are increased. 
On the 10th of May, 1832, it was my good fortune to be snugly on board 
the “ Lady of the Green Mantle,” or, in other words, the fine revenue cutter 
Marion. The Gulls that laughed whilst our anchors were swiftly descending 
towards the marvellous productions of the deep, soon had occasion to be 
sorrowful enough. As they were in great numbers, officers and men, as 
well as the American woodsman, gazing upon them from the high decks of 
the gallant bark, had ample opportunities of observing their motions. They 
were all busily engaged on wing, hovering here and there around the Brown 
Pelicans, intent on watching their plunges into the water, and all clamor- 
ously teasing their best benefactors. As with broadly extended pouch and 
lower mandible, the Pelican went down headlong, so gracefully followed 
the gay rosy-breasted Gull, which, on the brown bird’s emerging, alighted 
nimbly on its very head, and with a gentle stoop instantly snatched from 
the mouth of its purve} r or the glittering fry that moment entrapped ! 
Is this not quite strange, reader ? Aye, truly it is. The sight of these 
manoeuvres rendered me almost frantic with delight. At times, several 
Gulls would attempt to alight on the head of the same Pelican, but finding 
this impossible, they would at once sustain themselves around it, and snatch 
every morsel that escaped from the pouch of the great bird. So very 
dexterous were some of the Gulls at this sport, that I have seen them 
actually catch a little fish as it leaped from the yet partially open bill of 
the Pelican. And now, reader, I will conclude this long article with some 
fragments from my journals. 
Tortugas, May, 1832. — Whilst here, I often saw the Black-headed Gull of 
Wilson, sucking the eggs of Sterna fuliginosa, and Sterna stolida. Our 
sailors assured me that these Gulls also eat the young of these two species 
of Terns when newly hatched. 
Great Egg Harbour, May, 1829. — Like all other Gulls, the Larus 
Atricilla disgorges its food when attacked by a Lestris, or when wounded, 
or suddenly surprised ; but on all occasions of respite this Gull is apt to 
return to it, and vulture-like to swallow it anew. It differs however from 
the larger species, of Gulls, by never, as far as I have observed, picking up 
bivalve shells, for the purpose of letting them fall to break them, and 
afterwards feed on their contents. On the. ground they walk with con- 
siderable alertness, and not without a certain degree of elegance, especially 
during the love season. Whilst floating or swimming on the water, they 
are graceful in a high degree, and when seen, as they oftentimes are, in 
groups of many pairs, rising with, or sinking amidst the billows, which ever 
and anon break on the sandy shores of the coast, their alternate appearance 
