THE GULL. 
227 
chooses to exert it. A constant attendant on the 
whale-fisher, whenever they are busied in cutting 
up a whale', he hovers over the carcass, and having 
fixed his eye on a choice morsel of blubber or flesh, 
which some other of the Gull tribe has secured 
for itself, down he comes, and, forcing it to abandon 
the prize, carries it off as his own; or, if pressed by 
hunger, he will sometimes even fall upon one of the 
smaller sea-birds, and devour it whole. Thus, one of 
them was shot in the Polar expedition under Sir 
Edward Parry, which immediately disgorged an Auk, 
or Greenland Dove ; and on opening him, another 
was found undigested in his stomach. But this 
Burgomaster, tyrant as he is, has a rival quite his 
equal in tyranny, and, though his inferior in size, 
surpassing him in courage and activity. The Arctic 
Gull, or Dung-Hunter ( Lestris parasiticus ), fears 
no bird, nor even hesitates to attack any animal, 
of whatever size, that comes too near its nest. 
Where they breed in considerable numbers, neither 
Hawks, nor even Eagles, are allowed to approach; 
for if, either by accident or design, any of these 
birds of prey are seen, the whole assembly attack, 
and compel them to retire. Hence, in some places 
where they abound, they become the guardians 
of the young lambs, which the people consider per- 
fectly safe during summer ; and, in return for this 
protection, the Gull is never molested, being held in 
no less esteem than the Stork in Holland, or the Ibis 
in Egypt. The unfortunate birds most exposed to 
the attacks of these robbers are their brethren, the 
Herring-Gulls, and Kittiwakes, probably because, 
being the most diligent pursuers of fish, they are 
