United States or South Korea ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Next morning, as the sun rose, a party of mournfully shrieking black-backed, herring, common, and black-headed gulls were gathered around the soaked and bedraggled carcasses of a polecat and a buzzard, stranded by the falling tide upon a mud spur, and still locked savagely and implacably in death.
169. COMMON GULL. Larus canus, Linnaeus. French, "Goeland cendré," "Mouette a pieds bleus," "La Mouette d'Hiver". The Common Gull, though by no means uncommon in the Channel Islands during the winter, never remains to breed there, nor does it do so, I believe, any where in the West of England, certainly not in Somerset or Devon, as stated by Mr. Dresser in the 'Birds of Europe, fide the Rev. M.A. Mathew and Mr. W.D. Crotch, who must have made some mistake as to its breeding in those two counties; in Cornwall it is said to breed, by Mr. Dresser, on the authority of Mr. Rodd. Mr. Dresser, however, does not seem to have had his authority direct from either of these gentlemen, and only quotes it from Mr. A.G. More. Mr. Rodd, however, in his 'Notes on the Birds of Cornwall, published in the 'Zoologist' for 1870, only says, "Generally distributed in larger or smaller numbers along or near our coasts," which would be equally true of the Channel Islands, although it does not breed there; however, as Mr. Rodd is going to publish his interesting notes on the Birds of Cornwall in a separate form, it is much to be hoped that he will clear that matter up as far as regards that county and the Scilly Islands. Like the Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gull, the Common Gull goes through several changes of plumage before it arrives at maturity; like them it begins with the mottled brownish stage, and gradually assumes the blue-grey mantle of maturity; in the earlier stages the primaries have no white spots at the tips. The legs and bill, which appear to go through more changes than in other Gulls, are in an intermediate state bluish grey (which accounts for Temminck's name mentioned above) before they assume the pale yellow of maturity: although at this time they have the mantle quite as in the adult, there is a material difference in the pattern of the primary quills, and they do not appear to breed till their bills have become quite yellow and their legs a pale greenish yellow. I cannot quite tell at what age the Common Gull begins to breed, for, although I have a pair which have laid regularly for the last two years (they have not, however, hatched any young, which perhaps is the fault of the Herring Gulls, whom I have several times caught sucking their eggs), I do not know what their age was when I first had them as I did the Herring Gulls from Sark and the Lesser Black-backs from Burhou; I can only say when I first had them they had the bills and legs blue; in fact they were in the state in which they are the "Mouette
It scarcely seemed possible that the black-backed little chap had moved, but he had leaped in and out again, chopping wickedly with a sword-like gleam of fangs as he did so. The other pivoted, quick as thought, and counter-slashed, and, before you could wink, Mesomelas was in and away, in and out, once, twice, and again.
This happens on the pampas with the stork, the short-eared owl, the hooded gull and the dominican or black-backed gull the leading species among the feathered nomads: a few first appear like harbingers; these are presently joined by new comers in considerable numbers, and before long they are in myriads.
"He gets away the next day, and reaches a fish market, in the little island of Kabizia, in time to breakfast on a large, black-backed, scaleless monster, the singa. The sailors considering it delicious, are disinclined to move on. "Again detained by a high wind, they cross, at noon on the 11th, to Kasenge, where Sheikh Hamer, an Arab merchant, receives Speke with warm and generous hospitality.
The distant "Qua-ha-ha!" of a troop of zebras going to drink; the peculiar snort of an impala antelope, scenting danger; the far-away drumming of hoofs of a startled herd of hartebeests; the bleat of an eland calf, pulled down by who knows what; the "Hoot-toot!" of a hippopotamus, going out to grass; the sudden shrill "Ya-ya-ya-ya!" of a black-backed jackal close at hand; the yarly, snarly whines of a hunting leopard; the snap of a crocodile's jaws, somewhere down in the nearby river; and, last, but by no means least in ghostliness, the awful rising "Who-oo!" followed by a sudden mad chorus of maniacal laughter, which told that somewhere a gathering of hyenas were at their work!
A civet cat who is more civet than cat, by the way a small spotted genet who looked like an exaggerated ferret in the uncertain gloom and the inevitable black-backed jackal who must not be confused with him of the side-stripes faded out at his approach like steam in a dry atmosphere.
The three last cases devoted to wading birds, contain the varieties of the British and North American Rails: the varieties of the Gallinule, including the European purple gallinule, the South American variety, and the Australian black-backed variety; and the Finfoots of Africa and America.
And this was true, for though there are some dogs in Africa, they are mostly in cities or the towns where the native black men live. There may be some wild dogs in the jungle, but Nero never saw any, and the nearest he ever came to noticing animals like a dog were the black-backed jackals.
And there are gulls in hundreds, you see, large and small, gray-backed and black-backed; and over them all two or three great gannets swooping round and round. Oh! one has fallen into the sea! Yes, with a splash just like a cannon ball. And here he comes up again, with a fish in his beak. If he had fallen on your head, with that beak of his, he would have split it open.
Word Of The Day