The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-04-27
GULLs OF THE LAKE.
Birds That Safely Breast the
Fiercest Gales.
With Skill md Precision That Is Mar
velous, They Wrest Their Food
from tho Very Jaws of
tho Tempest.


pinioncd birds of Lake Michigan in
their quest for food along the surf which
washes the city shore have missed one
of the many exceedingly interesting
sights furnished by this ever-changing
panorama of fascinating water which
too many Chicagoans think is too COM
mon to be worthy the least attention.
These great birds, says tho Chicago
which they are type. They are typical
with the suburban trains in the MORN
ing, and out again to the wooded shore
lands ut night. They seem to like the
din and roar of city life. Daily they
pursue their tracl1lcss path deep into
the city's heart, and not infrcqucntly
sound forth their satisfaction ut what
they see from its business housctops.
These great, eaglc-lillc birds are de-
voted workers for Chicago, workers for
the happiness of Chicago people. Their
wings measure, nearly three feet from
tip to tip, and their power both to soar
and poise in the teeth of the angricst
gale is n marvel The fact that the
wings of these lake gulls are heavily
muscled gives little clcw to the won
derful secret, for when in mid-air it
seems as though they must be entirely
at the mercy of the gale, particularly
when posing, for ut such moments
they are maintaining u certain definite
position with apparently no effort, and
their entire appearance is that of
statuesquc rcpose. For many seconds
at a time they may be seen thus poised
while perhaps within speaking distance
huge lake craft with hundreds of tons
of ballast reel and staggcr almost to
capsizing by reason of the hurricane
that is sweeping the lake. AS an ex-
ample of how exceeding far the cum
ming of nature surpasscs the alleged
wisdom of man, the motionlcss poise of
these gulls of the lake, mid-air in Il
raging storm, gives evidence most strili-
ing.
If the storm brings the human mariner
distress, and often death, it is the kind
lest friend the lake gull knows For
the storm does the lake gull's market
ing for him; it is his greatest provider of
food. Therefore, when tempest is howl
ing and angrily hurting the pillows in
land from off the great, rocking plateau
Of water is the time to see these gulls
busiest in their quest for food. A storm
on the lake means the casting towards
shore of quantities of dead fish which,
were it not for the gulls, would add to
the city's pestilential possibilities With
keen eyes scanning the surging flood
these great birds, riding mid-air and
usually but n short league from shore
wait as if Mt perfect case for the APP
pcarance of their food. Sighting fin
ny carcass, they take position imme-
diately above it, then drop like n shot
upon their prize, and seemingly with
out touching the water they seize the
fish and soar gracefully away The ab-
solute nicely with which they gauge
their drop-which is usually distance
of not less than fifty fect-involving an
accurate calculation rs to the distance
the fierce wind may carry them be-
tween the moment of their folding their
wings and the instant they will reach
the water, together with the calcula-
ton of the shift of position occasioned
to the fish by the surging waters upon
which it floats, is something past all
finding out. OF course no one prcsumcs
for n moment that the gull does any
mental figuring on these points; not
one-thousandth part the calculating
that man would do when about to
swim n narrow, swiftly-1owing stream
and make n certain point on the oppo-
site side And yet the feat performed
by the gull is probably thousand
times moro wonderful than that of the
man who swims swift current accord
ing to his calculations.
The curious may wonder why the
gulls do not wait until their favorite
food has been thrown up on the beach,
and then take it with seemingly less
danger TO themselves. We'll, the reason
is that unlike many people the lake
gull never loses any time waiting for "a
ship that may never land. Its llnowl-
edge of wind and water tells it it's food
may be washed to within a rod of shore
then the storm which brought it may go
down, leave it there, and another storm
spring up from the island and wash it
away again. When dead fish are not
plentiful the menu of the gull is made
up of refuse matter generally, which is
flung up by the waves, as we'll as of
various marine creatures left upon the
sands when the storm has abated. When
the elements have proven negligent in
it's behalf, this bird resorts to incursions
inland. At such times the more distin-
gushing traits of its honorable and
fearless ancestry assert themselves. 1t
is bold and independent, even to insist
ing that fishermen along the piers are
bound to share their bats with it. 1t
seems to prefer that they do SO willing
ly. If they don't it will suddenly drop
down beside them, take mouthful of
the grubs or minnows, which have pre-