Sea Gulls and Sea Mews are found everywhere, but they are most numerous on the flat and low sea-shores of the North, where the dead bodies of whales and other large fish furnish them with abundant food. They prefer building their nests on desert islands in the Polar seas, where they are safe from man's intrusion. They lay two or three eggs in a hole scratched in the sand, or in the cleft of a rock.
These birds are easily tamed, and soon take to domestic habits; but their flesh, which is hard and tough as leather, is unfit for human food. In order to render them eatable in cases of emergency, the sailors, after having skinned them, hang them up by their feet, and leave them exposed to the evening dew for two or three nights. By this means a little of the disagreeable smell passed by their carcass is got rid of.
Fig. 108.—Large White-winged Gull (Larus glaucus, Yarrell).
The most remarkable species of the Sea Gull are the following:—
The Large White-winged Gull, Larus glaucus ([Fig. 108]), is all white except its back, which is of a light bluish grey. It is most frequently found towards the east of Europe, and is rare on the Atlantic coasts.
The Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus ([Fig. 109]), is of a pure white, with a black back. It is very common in northern regions, and habitually visits the shores of the Atlantic to the north of France.
The Herring Gull (Larus argentatus, Yarrell), is white, with a blue back. It is seen throughout the year on the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
The only species of Sea Mew which it is necessary for us to describe are:—
The White Sea Mew, or Senator (Larus eburneus),[26] which is found but incidentally in the temperate regions of Europe. It is very common in Greenland and Baffin's Bay. Its plumage is entirely white, tinted with pink underneath; it has black feet and a bluish bill.