238 
BRITISH BIRDS. 
do not exceed the Leffer Gulls, or Mews, in fize, 
yet their greater ferocity enables them to carry into 
effect that continual perfecution which is prompted 
by their ravenous appetite. As foon as they per- 
ceive that one of the Mews has feized a prey, they 
purfue and attack it with the fpeed and vigour of a 
Hawk, until the haralfed bird, through fatigue or 
fear, is compelled to drop or difgorge the obje£i: of 
contention, which the purfuer catches in the fall, 
commonly before it reaches the water. Diftant ob- 
fervers have fuppofed this dropping fubftance to be 
the dung of the fugitive, and hence the Black-toed 
Gull obtained the name of the Dung-bird. 
