. Some bird friends [microform]. Birds; Oiseaux. 50Af£ BIRD FRIENDS 19. YOUNG GULLS When the nests are built on the ledges of the overhanging cliffs, the young birds often fall on the rocks below and are killed. They will take any risks in order to get away from an enemy. If brought to bay they sometimes vomit up large chunks of fish. This may be part of their defense, for a marauding bird of prey usually prefers fish to young gull. I have never seen the old birds feeding their young, and have of- ten wondered if they ever do it during the day. I am inclined to think they are fed early in the
. Some bird friends [microform]. Birds; Oiseaux. 50Af£ BIRD FRIENDS 19. YOUNG GULLS When the nests are built on the ledges of the overhanging cliffs, the young birds often fall on the rocks below and are killed. They will take any risks in order to get away from an enemy. If brought to bay they sometimes vomit up large chunks of fish. This may be part of their defense, for a marauding bird of prey usually prefers fish to young gull. I have never seen the old birds feeding their young, and have of- ten wondered if they ever do it during the day. I am inclined to think they are fed early in the morning and late in the evening. When the sun is blazing, the rocks and the sitting birds become intensely hot. Then the mother takes deep breaths, sitting for hours with the mouth wide open, the larynx also widely enough extended to stick the finger in, and the sides of the bird expanding and con- tracting. Her panting can be clearly heard some yards away. On several occasions I have failed to secure such pictures as I wanted, simply because the bird's mouth being wide open disfigured her so much. Throughout the winter the Glaucous-winged gull with many other varieties frequent the harbors along the British Columbia shore, feed- ing chiefly on the refuse thrown overboard from the coasting vessels. Sometimes they are attracted in almost countless numbers to the harbors where the herrings are running. This is especially noticeable at Nanaimo, where there are a great many herring salteries. They perch on the rigging of the ships plying back and forth, and become so tame at times, that they will take food from the hands of those a- board. The winter plumage of the gull is not as white and clear as that worn in the nesting season. Like other birds they put on the best. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original w
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Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectois
