856 
BIRD-LIFE* 
constantly engaged in providing the necessary quantity 
of nourishment. As soon as they are able to fly they 
learn, with the aid of their parents, to forage for them¬ 
selves. The old birds defend them from danger with the 
greatest fury; Gulls, indeed, always attack an enemy 
most heartily and energetically when they have young. 
On the approach of any bird of prey, such as a Raven 
or Falcon, all members of the colony unite together, and, 
mobbing the intruder, he is attacked on all sides with 
such vehemence that the best thing he can do is to 
decamp. They are well acquainted with their enemies, 
and soon learn to distinguish the gunner from the 
more harmless portion of humanity. Jealous, cunning, 
cautious and shy, as they are, it is rarely that one can 
manage to get a really good shot at one, though an 
unarmed individual is disregarded, and a boat containing 
unarmed people is passed at only a few yards distance. 
At their breeding places they dart down valiantly at the 
gunner, even, though he may have already shot several 
of their number. On landing on one of their breeding 
islands one is greeted by a terrific noise, emanating 
from a thousand throats: one Gull after another 
comes and poises itself, Falcon-like, in mid-air, and 
then swoops at the obnoxious intruder, generally to 
within a few inches of his head. At such times, and in 
such localities, the shyest species may be easily shot. 
Their greediness is also equally disastrous to their safety. 
When the first bird is shot one need only toss it into the 
air, and all the others immediately rush up, probably 
because they imagine that their defunct friend has found 
something that they can rob him of. Possibly the cause, 
for this extraordinary conduct, may only be the great 
curiosity which they all indulge in. 
