The Glaucous-winged Gull 
Taken in Seattle 
us to visions of the limpid 
ocean, all-powerful and 
all-purifying. 
To and fro, forward 
and back, in and out, 
up, down, and around, 
moves the restless multi¬ 
tude when the hungry 
mood is on,— a twirling 
kaleidoscope of action. 
And, while the gulls are 
no songsters, not the 
least of their charm lies 
in the manifold cries, in 
the trumpet calls and 
croaks, in the barks and 
screams, with which the 
birds mark the progress 
of their quest. And when 
a treasure of floating bis¬ 
cuits is discovered, how 
photo by the Author the screams rise to a 
grand medley of stridor, 
fierce, exultant, like the triumph of Tritons over smitten reefs! 
Truth to tell, we owe the continued presence of our thousands of sea¬ 
gulls through the winter chiefly to the activities of our fish markets and 
our packing houses, and to the fact that the city’s garbage is dumped 
daily at the advancing edge of the tide lands. At the dumping grounds 
the arrival of each loaded scow, in charge of Antonio or Pietro, is greeted 
with a double Chautauqua salute of fluttering wings, and hoarse huzzas 
besides. Pandemonium reigns until the tide has divided the spoil, and 
these children of the second table have all been fed. 
Toward noontide, when the garbage gatherers have given over their 
task, the birds retire according to their kind, to foregather with their 
fellows for the midday siesta, which is an essential part of every well- 
regulated bird-day. The Mews assemble on the water in some open space 
and ride at anchor, or else rehearse in gabbling, duck-like tones the memo¬ 
ries of Alaska. The Glaucous-wings, with their cousins, the Westerns and 
the Herrings, line the railings in solemn rows, or else betake themselves 
to some retreat of inaccessible piling. Here, each on a pillar like St. 
Simeon Stylites, they ruminate and slumber till the pangs of returning 
hunger impel them once again to action. The California Gulls prefer to 
YOUNG BURGOMASTERS 
1370 
