No bird is better known, on most parts of our coast, than the common
gull, which is in some places called the winter-mew. Active and restless
as it may seem on the wing, it has, when in repose, little that would
remind us of the frequent comparison, “blithe as a bird.” We sometimes
see it in gardens near the coast, with clipped wings, wandering in
solitude over the paths with dejected and melancholy air, as if pining
for its native sea and its companions. When free, its manners seem
almost agitated as it darts eagerly on its prey, swallowing it so
impetuously that it sometimes seizes the hook and bait which the
fisherman has put out to take the fish, and thus wounds itself and
becomes a captive. Buffon calls the clamorous and voracious gulls the
vultures of the sea; they not only feed on fish, molluscous and other
living animals, but seize on dead and putrid matter of every description,
either floating on the waters or spread on the shore. Gulls do not dive
into the water for food, but they dip now and then to seize it. They
have been found by voyagers in all latitudes, and are very numerous in
northern regions, where the carcases of whales and of large fish offer
them an abundant store of nourishment. Hard and tough as their flesh is,
yet it may be eaten; and the eggs, which are placed in large nests made
of grass and sea-weeds, are very good. The gull comes to South Stack in
April or May, and leaves in September.