A BIRD-EATING GULL.
LTO THE EDITOR OF TUE "EPROTATOR.".1
notice in the Spectator of last week a letter from a correspondent stating that two black-headed gulls were recently witnessed in St. James's Park chasing dabchicks with intent to kill them for• food. I have also witnessed an occurrence of the same kind of thing. During the very severe winter of last year I was walking over the marshes at Canterbury in company with a schoolfellow, watching a_ number of gulls circling above us, evidently driven in shore to hunt for food. Suddenly one of these gulls fell to the ground quite dead about fifty yards from where we stood. On examining the bird we found that inside its mouth was a small bird, evidently recently killed. Probably the gull, which was a very large common herring-gull, had seized the bird, and in endeavouring to devour it had choked itself. I believe it is a very rare occurrence for gulls to devour other birds, probably only taking place when food is unobtainable at sea
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