The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1915-12-16

Washington, ~. W Dec. ID He
term gull" usually is associated in
the popular mind only with the long
winged swimmers seen along the salt
water shores and in coast harbors.
There are represented in the United
States. however. twenty-five species
or sub-species of gulls, including the
gull-like birds known as skuas and
jaegers. and inland lakes. Flocks OF
guIls on the waters OF our harbors or
following the wake OF vessels are a
familiar sight but not every observer
of the graceful motions of the bird is
aware Of the fact that guIls are the
original white wings"
AS sea scavengers they welcome as
food dead fish. garbage. and DIAL
of various sorts, and their services
in cleaning up such material are not
to be regarded lightly. 1t will, how
ever, surprise many to learn that
some Of the gull family render inn
portant inland service. especially to
agriculture Al least one species, the
California gull, is extremely fond Of
field mice, and during an outbreak of
that pest in Nevada in 1903 hun
dreds OF gulls assembled in and near
the devastated alfalfa fields and fed
entirely on mice. thus lending the
farmers material aid in their war
fare against the festiferOus little
rodents. The skua also feeds on mice
and Jennings. Several species of
guIls render valuable service to ag-
riculture by destroying insects also
and in spring hundreds of Franklins
gulls in Wisconsin and the Dakotas
follow the plowman to pick up the
insect larvae uncovered by the share
That at least one community has
not been unmindful fthe substan-
tial debt it owes the gull is attested
in Salt Lake City, where stands q
monument surmOunted by a bronze
figure Of two gulls, erected by the
people OF that city "in grateful re-
membrance" of the signal service
rendered by these birds at a critical
time in the history of the community.
For three consecutive years-1S4S.
1S4g and 1S50-black crickets bv mil
lions threatened to ruin the crops up-
on which depended the very lives of
the settlers. Large fIocks of gulIs
came 10 the rescue and devoured vast
numbers OF the destructive insects.
un,il the fields were entirely freed
from them.
or the IS bird reservations, some
q situated on the seacoast or on is.
lands in the Great Lakes are visited
by the gulls in migration and fire.
quented by them during the breeding
season. In these reservations the
birds find safety from human moIes-
tation and local wardens have en-
deavored to reduce their wild native
enemies to minimum.
Among the birds frequenting these
reservations are the glaucous-winged.
western. herring, California. and
- laughing gulls. Thus these reserya-
tons protect several of the most i'm
portant species of North American
gulls.
Through the efforts of individuals
and the National Association of Audu-
Don Societies. guards and wardens
have ben employed along the coasts
until it is probable that there is no
important colony from Main to Flor
Ida not guarded during the breeding
1eaSon. A few colonies are protected
on the Gulf Coast, and on the oregon
coast breeding-places are guarded nv
state wardens. AS a result of this
protection herring gulls along the
coast of Maine have increased con
siderably, while laughing gulls are be-
ginning to be common once more in
various localities where they had
been almost exterminated.
Legal Protection.
fully as important for the protec-
non and increase OF gulls has been
the enactment of state laws prohibit
ing their killing at any time of wear
and OF laws prohibiting the sale of
thelr plumage. Gulls with their close
allies, the terms, have been among the
greatest sufferers from the millinery
trade. AS is usually the case tbe
birds were shot on the breeding
grounds during the height of the nest.
ing season. thus causing the death
not only of The parent birds. but in
surfing the death of the Young birds
by lingering starvation. Some wears
ago the public awoke to the barbaritv
of such slaughter, and after mueb
agitation New Jersey, in 1885. enact.
ed the first effective state law mr..
hn IL