Part 19

The two Australian Seagulls illustrate the "law of representatives" so often referred to by Gould. It is strange how often a closely similar representative of a Northern bird is found in Australia. Thus the big Pacific Gull is the representative of the large Gull of Europe, though its peculiar deepened and orange-colored bill is distinctive. It does not gain its beautiful white and black plumage until it is three or more years old, being brown in the first year, and brown and white in the second year.

The Silver Gull is known to all. Though a dainty-looking bird, it has a bad character. It is worse than any bird of prey for stealing eggs and young birds, for let a gannet or other nesting bird but leave the nest for a moment, and Gulls quickly rob it of its contents. They are scavengers, and eagerly follow a steamer at lunch-time to gather the scraps. An interesting sight of Currie Harbor, King Island, is to see the large company of Seagulls nesting undisturbed on a tiny, bare, rocky islet close to the pier.

It was noted that, whenever the Noddies were disturbed, and rose, protesting loudly, the Gulls immediately gathered and hovered over the trees containing Noddies' nests. Evidently they were looking for unprotected eggs.

Placed in the next family are the seven robber Gulls or sea pirates--Skuas. We read of these birds in the old Royal Readers, but few recognized them when they followed us to the Summer School of 1910. They also followed our afternoon-tea cruise to South Channel fort, and played their usual game of compelling the Seagulls to give up the scraps they had gathered. The Robber Gull, or Skua, of Victoria is, strange to say, identical with the Skua of England. The one that followed the s.s. Lady Loch to the Summer School is better known in England as the Arctic Gull or Richardson Skua. It breeds in the far North, so it is a great traveller.

One interesting fact about these birds is that they show two sets of plumage. Thus, while each bird, as it gets older, usually changes its immature and almost uniform dusky plumage for a white under-surface, an incomplete white collar, and a blackish cap, yet some retain the dusky plumage throughout life. This is a good example of "dimorphism," as it is termed. Usually, instead of picking up their own prey, they watch until some other bird has captured a meal, and then they rapidly pursue it and cause it to disgorge. They do not skim over the waves like Petrels, but show a heavy, labored flight, varied by a short soar. As the two centre tail feathers project beyond the rest, the birds can be readily identified as they follow a steamer for tit-bits.

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ORDER IX.--LARIFORMES.

F. 32. LARIDAE (21), TERNS, NODDIES, GULLS, Skimmers, 125 sp.--32(13)A., 35(3)O., 45(1)P., 42(6)E., 43(5)Nc., 46(19)Nl.

2 4

=64 Whiskered Tern= (Marsh), Hydrochelidon fluviatilis (hybrida), Eur. (Br.) to China, Malay, Afr. to A.

r. swamps (inland) 11

Head black; upper, wings, tail light-gray; face, throat, tail white; chest dark-gray; abdomen black; bill blood-red; winter, head grayish-white; f., sim. Water-insects, small fish.

1 1

=65 Gull-billed Tern= (Long-legged), Gelochelidon macrotarsa (anglica), cos. [~65-66 Genus Thalasseus.]

r. rivers, swamps inland 17

White; crown, hind-neck black; upper, wing-quills silvery-gray; bill long, stout, black; long legs and feet black; winter head white streaked black; f., sim. Small fish, insects.

1 1

=66 Caspian Tern=, Taranui, Sterna (Hydroprogne) caspia, cos. exc. S. Amer. [~65-66 Genus Thalasseus.]

c. shore 20.5

Head, hind-neck black; back, wings, tail pale-gray; dark-gray wing-quills; under white; bill scarlet; dives; f., smaller. Fish.

10 37

=67* Crested Tern= (Swift, Rüppell, Bass-St., Torres-St.), Village Blacksmith, Sterna bergii, Red S., Indian O., to Japan to A., Pac. Is.

v.c. ocean 17

Crown, crest black; forehead, sides and back of neck, under, white; back, wings, tail dark-gray; bill yellow; legs, feet black; f., sim. Fish.

=68 White-fronted Tern= (Southern), S. striata (frontalis), E.A., T., N.Z.

c. shore 13

Upper delicate-gray; wing-quills grayish-black; forehead, side-neck, under white; bill, about eye, hind-neck black; f., sim. Small fish.

=69 Bridled Tern= (Brown-winged, Panayan, Smaller-Sooty), S. anaestheta, tropical, sub-tropical seas.