The San Francisco call., 1910-03-06
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By William L. FinLey
Author OF American Birds
photographs by Herman T. Boil
man


TS soon as the winter begins to
lash The rocks along our shores.
u the innumerable host of white
winged feet sails into our har-
5or and takes up quarters about the
wharf lined water front and on the
tide fats. From the ice fields far up
the Alaskan coast all the way down to
Mexico snowy coated gulls are abun-
dant. This 1ocking n from the sea all
along our coast is the migratory call
I'd The EuL II answers the purpose Of
+o1E southern Journey. for here lie
6rds food IN abundance and friends.
The versatility Of q, gull shows his
.eeree OF intelligence. he IS equipped
for a life on the water. His webbed
feet are for swimming. But ne doesn't
seem 70 care whether nature equips
him for the sea or not His taste often
runs 10 angIeworms instead OF sar-
dimes. AS the notion takes him. he will
take up quarters about a pigpen. a gar
bage pile or follow tn the wake Of
vessel for days at time just to satisfy
his taste for scraps
II is interesting TO watch the euIls
thar flock about the bay and along the
wharf lined water front The minute
e food supply is discovered anywhere
about the bay the news spreads in the
guu world as II by wireless telegraph.
4 flock Of half dozen gulIs viii in
crease TO as many hundreds in an hour
cr SO. You can't see just where they
come from. but they come. A few years
ago. when the steam dredger started to
open the channel Of The Oakland estu-
ary. whole flock Of gulls sailed in
and settled at the mouth Of the long
pipe that was belching forth mud.
water. rocks and clans. CLANS were
gobbleG up the minute they struck the
ground by the showing, clamoring.
Tapping multitude.
Every morning at o'clock when the
garba ge is emptied at the long dock Of
the navy training station the gul1s
flock around by thousands. They know
the time Of breakfast as well as an
ordinary Iaborer knows the Iunca hour
Smelling Out Clans
I have seen the western herring guu
act in ways that speak well for his
sagacity. On several occasions
watched him open clans and mussels.
His bin is united for crushing the
hard she'll I saw one gun grasp 4
clam in his bill, rise TO height of
80 feet and drop It to the hard sand
and gravel below. He followed il uu
closely. but it didn't break He re-
peated the same performance over -
times before he was successfuL
in another way the gull shows his
ouickness TO take advantage of oppor-
tunity. In southern California, where
the gulls and pelicans feed together in
the bays. the gull is a parasite. living
on the labor of the pelican. Although
heavy and clumsy IN shape, the pelican
is as expert as the kingnsher at diving.
From height Of 30 or 40 feet he drops
like plummet into a school Of small
FISH and rises 10 the surface with pouch
hued with hsh and water. AS the diver
stretches his neck and draws his bill
straight UP, the water runs out and the
fish are left The head is thrown back
and the whole catch IS swallowed at one
guip. But the pelican does not fish for
alone. for he is always followed
by one or more thieving gulls.
one day while standing on the wharf
] saw a brown pelican tapping along
with a pair Of gulls a few feet behind.
"A moment later the big bird spied a
FISH. for with a back stroke of his
wing, he turned TO dive He gathered
speed as he went, and with wings
partly closed and rigid. he hit the
water with a resounding splash. The
lower mandible Of his bill contracted
and opened his pouch that held as much
water as the weight OF his body. He
'eame 70 the surface and was in A help
IS condition tia the water ran out
and at this moment he was pounced
upon by the swift moving gulls. which
snatched the fish and We're away before
the slow pelican could retaliate.
Al another time ] saw a band OF
1ozen peiicans following a school of