Quickly the girls made their own beds and helped with the dishes. Before they were through, Miss Gordon and Mrs. Williams had the lunches packed.
By the time the Brownies reached the hotel beach the sun was shining quite bravely. Nevertheless, Miss Gordon decided it was a little too cold for comfortable swimming.
“We’ll have our bird session first,” she announced. “Who will make the first report?”
Sunny Davidson wanted to be the first to offer her talk. That was because she had switched from a tern to a gull. She was afraid Connie would get ahead of her if she delayed the report.
“I’m going to tell about the herring gull,” she announced quickly. “He sits on piers, rocks and buoys when he isn’t flying around looking for food. He’s a noisy bird too.”
“We knew all that before,” said Vevi. She was a bit rude because she had wanted to tell about a gull herself.
“Sometimes one sees brown or speckled gulls,” went on Sunny, paying no attention to Vevi. “They’re the young gulls. When they become adults they turn white. Some of them have a little gray, black or blue in their plumage.”
“And did you notice the color of the gull’s legs?” questioned Miss Gordon. “That is most important in identifying a herring gull.”
Sunny had failed to notice the gull’s legs. But at that moment one of the big fat birds flew lazily overhead. “Why, they’re real pale!” Sunny exclaimed. “Sort of flesh colored.”
“That’s exactly right,” approved the Brownie Scout leader. “Your report was excellent, Sunny. I’ll reward you by giving you a few crumbs to toss out on the water.”