. Half hours with fishes, reptiles, and birds . Fig. 121.—Pied-billed Grebe. SOME OCEAN FLYERS 157 paddled about by the bird, which sits upon it with onefoot overboard at such times. These birds are all valuablefor their rich feathers, which are used as furs andtrimming. SOME OCEAN FLYERS Petrels and Gulls Among the grebes and sea birds there are many otherswith long, graceful, pointed wings — the gulls and theirallies. These areamong the mostattractive of birds;not for their colors,as they are almostalways gray, white,or black, but thecontrasts of tintare so marked, andtheir flight is sowell
. Half hours with fishes, reptiles, and birds . Fig. 121.—Pied-billed Grebe. SOME OCEAN FLYERS 157 paddled about by the bird, which sits upon it with onefoot overboard at such times. These birds are all valuablefor their rich feathers, which are used as furs andtrimming. SOME OCEAN FLYERS Petrels and Gulls Among the grebes and sea birds there are many otherswith long, graceful, pointed wings — the gulls and theirallies. These areamong the mostattractive of birds;not for their colors,as they are almostalways gray, white,or black, but thecontrasts of tintare so marked, andtheir flight is sowell sustained thatthey are famousthe world over. On the Florida reef the laughing gull (Fig. 122) is avery common form, its victorious ha ha being heardat all times. Its black head and lighter body are con-spicuous objects far away. It follows the patient peli-cans about the reef, and when the latter secure a catch,drops down upon them, alighting on head or back, andsnatches the fish from the very mouths of the stupid peli-. Fig. 122. — Laughing Gull. i58 SOME OCEAN FLYERS cans just as they are prepared to swallow it. The laugh-ing gull then rises and utters the loud ha ha, ha this cry is immediately interpreted by the man-of-war bird, which comes plunging down from the empyrean,where it has been soaring, to begin a contest in the airthat fully demonstrates the marvelous power of flight pos-sessed by these two birds. Higher they climb until al-most out of sight; then they come plunging downward,living arrows, the larger bird invariably forcing the gull to give up its prey,which the swiftman-of-war birdcatches before ittouches the Santa Cata-lina Island thegulls follow thesteamer to Avalonand back, nearlysixty miles, everyday. Some rest afew moments on the gilt ball at the topmast, but nearlyall fly the entire distance and are often fed by thepassengers, who toss bread and crackers at them, whichare sometimes caught in the air. The ivory gull is abeautiful cr
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1906
