The California Gull 
Taken on Paoha Island 
ture’s appraisers, mark 
these fluent notes of 
whit e-a n d-fl e s h-a n d- 
gray and smear them 
upon canvass, or weave 
them into distiches, ac¬ 
cording to their kind. 
And last of all, plain 
mortals, who know not 
exactly why they are 
glad at the seashore, and 
care not so they are so, 
these borrow also of the 
gull the fuel of those un¬ 
questioned fires of aver¬ 
age content. And though 
we may appraise the 
blueness of waters and 
the brightness of skies 
and the genial warmth of 
sands, it is, after all, the 
gulls and their kind who 
give the crowning touch 
of life to any littoral 
scene. 
The Pacific shores in 
winter are highly favored 
by an abundant and a 
would-be friendly host of 
northern pilgrims, among 
them gulls of eight or 
nine varieties. And of these the California Gull is most closely attached 
to the ferry boats of the Bay Cities and to the coastwise steamers which 
ply from Crescent City to San Diego. These gulls play pilot, hovering 
angel, and passenger, by turns; and often, for the sheer humor of the thing, 
trail doggedly behind, as though flying, forsooth, were hard work. 
The gulls take a lively interest in the passengers, but it is the cook 
who has the key to the gull heart. It is for his sake alone that the birds 
have forsworn the sunny beaches and have attached themselves to the 
caravels of commerce. 
Photo by the Author 
LARUS CALIFORNICUS 
“He may live without love—what is passion but pining? 
But where is the gull that can live without dining?” 
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