along the shore of the bay, says,- "The sea-gulls in their snowy garb, were, as usual, highly attractive; but the herons bore off the palm from all the others. After having been driven from the banks by a high tide, they were returning now that it had ebbed; and the whole expanse of sky before me was enlivened by their presence. At one view I reckoned fifty spread singly over the atmosphere. The many-coloured sky, chiefly blue, with white and rich yellow clouds, against which they were seen, much enhanced their appearance. I have occasionally, though not to-day, remarked the white portion of the herons' plumage to look beautifully roseate, with the rich tints of the setting sun upon it."

Such a flight, observed with the eye of the naturalist and the artist, is well deserving of record. But the eye of the sportsman in former times looked upon a flight of a different kind, when, in the days of falconry, a pair of hawks were flown at a single heron. Such a scene, Sir Walter Scott has described with so much animation, that he almost makes us spectators of its exciting details:

"Eager as a frigate in chase of some rich galleon, darted the falcon towards the enemy, which she had been taught to pursue ; while preparing for defence, if he should be unable to escape by flight, the heron exerted all his powers of speed to escape from an enemy so formidable. Plying his almost unequalled strength of wing, he ascended higher and higher in the air, by short gyrations, that the hawk might gain no vantage ground for pouncing at him; while his spiked beak, at the extremity of so long a neck as enabled him to strike an object at a yard's distance in every direction, possessed, for any less spirited assailant, all the terrors of a Moorish javelin.

"Another hawk was now thrown off, and encouraged by the halloos of the falconer to join her companion. Both kept mounting or scaling the air, as it were, by a succession of small circles, endeavouring to gain that superior height, which the heron on his part was bent to preserve; and to the exquisite delight of the spectators, the contest was continued until all three were wellnigh mingled with the fleecy clouds, from which was occasionally heard the harsh and plaintive cry of the quarry, appealing, as it were, to the heaven which he was approaching, against the wanton cruelty of those by whom he was persecuted." 1

1 The Betrothed.

The Dunlin.

The heron is one of the wading-birds. To the same group belongs the Dunlin or Purre (Tringa variabilis), the smallest and the most abundant of all the sand-pipers. But though in itself a very pigmy representative of the order, it makes up in numbers what it wants in size, and vast flocks of them may be seen along the edge of the sea, searching for worms, crustacea, and mollusca. “If disturbed,” says Mr. Yarrell, "the whole flock take wing together, and wheeling along in half circles, near the edge or the surface of the water, each bird exhibits alternately a dark or a light appearance to the observer, as the upper or the under side of its body happens to be turned towards him." The change of appearance thus adverted to, is the circumstance which strikes the observer with surprise. One moment a flock of perhaps one thousand birds is shining before you, as if arrayed in silver; the next moment, they are shrouded in gloom, as if every individual had arrayed himself in the cloak of darkness, described in the fairy tale. When I add, that at times every bird gives forth a pleasant note, making the whole strand musical, the reader will see sufficient reason for looking with interest on those feathered multitudes, that by voice and motion indicate the happiness with which they have been gifted.

The following remarks will show how they have been regarded by other eyes than mine, and that winter does not stop their aërial gambols, though summer is the time at which they have come under my own observation. December 1, 1836.—" I observed for a long time a great flock on wing, consisting of not less than two thousand birds; this body, as usual, divided into two or three flocks, which alighted separately, but soon again, without being molested, rose into the air, when all again joined and went through the most graceful and beautiful evolutions. When immense flocks divide, fly right and left, and shoot into single strings, they strike upon the eye, while the sun shines upon them, the dark banks of the bay serving as background, like silver lines, occasionally of great length. A flock flying for a great distance, just above the margin of the flowing tide, strongly resemble, from their white plumage being displayed, a single wave sweeping rapidly onwards.”

"On another occasion, Dec. 1840, I saw more dunlins together than I had ever before observed in so small a space. There could

not have been less than five thousand; as many as three thousand were in a dense flock, busily feeding, and keeping up a thrilling concert, like grey linnets when congregated previous to roosting; the others were somewhat more scattered. A few days afterwards, a friend being out shooting, early in the morning, on the Down shore of the bay, saw a flock of several thousands. He described their appearance, as the sun rose, to have been one of the most beautiful sights he ever witnessed. The great body first appeared glancing in the sun; then it broke up into a dozen flocks, which rose and fell in the air like molten silver, or, as his companion observed, like showers of new shillings-a most apt image! One of the finest effects is when the background is so dark that the birds are only seen in silvery whiteness, flashing their underplumage upon us.

There is another bird belonging to the same order, on which I would gladly dwell, the Curlew, the most wary and quicksighted of all our shore birds, remarkable both for its peculiar cry and for the wedge-shaped form that the flock assumes when on the wing; but space forbids, and I pass on to that family of birds with which the most casual visitor to the coast is familiar— the sea-gulls.

SEA-GULLS.

Black-headed, Herring, and Black-backed Gulls.

Several species frequent the bay of Holywood; but the one known as the Common Gull (Larus canus) is not in this locality the species which is most abundant. That designation might be more properly claimed by the BLACK-HEADED GULL (L. ridibundus); so that we have here one example of the facility with which we may be deceived by names, if they alone were considered. It is in appearance a very attractive bird; white, grey, and black, mingle most harmoniously in its colouring; the breast, the under surface of the body, and the tail feathers, are of the purest white; while the beak, the legs, and the feet, are of vermilion red. Hence the term "Red-legged gull" is not less correct than that of "Black-headed."

Unlike most of its brethren, it sometimes selects inland loca

1 Thomson's Natural History of Ireland, vol. ii.

lities for its breeding haunts, as Staffordshire and Norfolk in England, and islands in Lough Neagh and elsewhere, in Ireland. But its visits to the interior of the country are not limited to the period of incubation. They spread themselves in large flocks over the country, especially when the farm labour is going on, and follow the plough as regularly as rooks. From the quantity of worms and grubs which they thus destroy, the farmer should rank them among his most active friends. No regularly-paid farm labourers would be half so efficient. This habit is not confined to the present species. Its proper feeding ground, however, like that of all its tribe, must be considered to be the sea itself, and the adjacent shore. The food consists of small surface-swimming fishes, the fry of fish, the soft-bodied animals that live on the green oozy banks where the grass-wrack grows, and the minute creatures that the tide flings upon the beach. So numerous are the black-headed gulls in the vicinity of Holywood (Belfast), that so many as two hundred have been noticed feeding together on the beach, and quietly keeping pace with the receding tide. To look at them at such a time, and see their enjoyment of the food thus bountifully provided for them, we might well remark, "How happy do they appear!" Yet not less, but, if possible, more happy do they seem, when a flock of fifty or more goes through its graceful evolutions in the air, sailing round and round, or flying in all possible directions within the circumference of a limited circle. No sound is uttered by them at such times; the easy movement and the companionship of their fellows would seem to constitute perfect enjoyment. All such feelings we can but imperfectly understand; but such a spectacle enables us to appreciate more fully the description of the poet

"In plumage delicate and beautiful."

"With wings that might have had a soul within them,
They bore their owners with such sweet enchantment."

When passing along the shores of the bay, little groups of seagulls may often be observed scattered near the sea-margin. At first sight you are not sure whether you are looking at birds or at masses of the sea-foam. Often at such times I have wondered "can they be pondering on state affairs?" and wished that, like the vizier of the Sultan in the Eastern tale, I understood the language of birds. Those sociable little groups are not formed of one species only, but of three or four. Our two largest species of

gulls may be seen with them or beside them, and never at such times appear in any way to molest their weaker relatives. They are all on their good behaviour.

scene.

Let me change the scene, and depict the two larger gulls in their ordinary way of life; and first, the HERRING GULL (Larus argentatus), a species particularly daring in approaching the boats and nets of fishermen. Whenever a shoal of fish suitable for prey is discovered, we may be sure that this gull takes part in the foray. The scene at such times is highly exciting. One popular writer describing it says,- "We were bearing down to a glorious play of sea-birds, and I got a gun uncased to practise at the gulls. It was a curious and bustling Above, thousands of these birds were congregated in a small circle, screaming, and rising, and dipping over a dense mass of fry, which appeared at times breaking the surface of the water. The great body of sea-fowl appeared so much engrossed with their predatory pursuits, as neither to attend to the report of the gun, nor notice the approach of the hooker, until the boat's bowsprit seemed almost parting the countless host of floating and flying plunderers. . . . I fired; a solitary gull dropped in the water, and half a dozen wounded birds separated from the crowd, and went screaming off to sea." On the sufferings of the wounded birds the eloquent writer does not waste a thought. He wanted "to practise" at the gulls, and he did so. When shall we learn to use with more consideration the powers with which we have been invested over the lower animals?

...

At other times, the Herring-gull preys on fish taken in nets, on the soft-bodied sea-animals, and shell-fish of the shore, and occasionally a fragment of carrion does not come amiss. At the promontory of Horn Head, in Donegal, where fish are abundant, this gull is so much of an epicure as to prefer the flesh of the young rabbits from the adjacent warren; and so destructive is it considered, that the proprietor of the warren gives a reward of fourpence for the head of every herring-gull brought to him.1

This species, as well as the great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), will occasionally bear down on a flock of widgeon, which will immediately take flight in great alarm, even when swimming in company to the number of a thousand or more. The latter gull has been seen to strike down a widgeon from the flock, and 1 Vide Thompson's Natural History of Ireland.