226 
THE GULL. 
Some years ago, in riding with a friend on the sea- 
shore, we espied a Gull lying motionless on the 
sand, apparently dead ; hut as its eyes were open, 
life was clearly not extinct. Suspecting it to be 
a wounded bird, we alighted to examine the extent 
and nature of the injuries it had received; hut not a 
drop of blood was to he seen, neither was a feather 
ruffled. After having, therefore, handled it for seve- 
ral minutes, without its evincing the slightest symp- 
toms of vitality, beyond the opening and shutting of 
its eyes, we threw it into the air, when, to our in- 
conceivable surprise, the apparently dead bird ex- 
panded its wings, and, tucking up its legs, flew off 
with the utmost composure and steadiness. 
Nature has amply provided them with means for 
their wandering lives. While the Cormorant is pent 
up in his cavern, and most of the other sea-birds 
are driven to their rocks and crags, during heavy 
gales, it matters as little to the Gull as to the 
Gannet, that the weather be fair or foul. Cold has no 
effect upon him, provided as he is with a thick coat 
of the softest down : light too as he is, he tops and 
rides over the waves without an effort ; and his 
wide wings insure him a safe conveyance from 
every peril, save that of the gun, to which he may 
be exposed. 
They are a very numerous tribe, differing a good 
deal in their habits, if not in their external fea- 
tures. The king of them all seems to be the Bur- 
gomaster ( Larus glaucus ), a name given by the 
Dutch, being the title of their chief magistrate, to 
which, by his conduct, he has a fair claim, for no 
other Gull dares dispute his authority when he 
