THE SEA-GULL. 93 
strutting about the straight alleys of such a 
garden, with the most formal, yet conscious air 
imaginable, glancing first to one side then to the 
other, evidently aware of your notice, yet pre- 
tending to be busied about his own concerns. It 
was impossible to conceive that this bird, walk- 
ing ‘in his dignified way,” upon his two stiff 
little legs, and so full of self-importance, had 
ever been a free, wild, winged creature, wheeling 
about and screaming in the storm, or riding 
gracefully upon the sunshiny waters. His na- 
ture had undergone a land-change; he was trans- 
formed into the patron of poodles, and the con- 
descending companion of an old black cat. With 
these creatures, belonging to the same place, he 
was on very friendly terms, maintaining, never-. 
theless, an air of superiority over them, which 
they permitted, either out of pure good-nature, or 
because their simplicity was imposed upon. They 
were all frequently fed from the same plate, but 
the quadrupeds never presumed to put in their 
noses till the Gull was satisfied, and to his credit 
it may be told, that he was not insatiable, al- 
though a reasonably voracious bird on ordinary 
occasions. 
