Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 84

x-uf. ........ ,! -• ;. --<;;.; ; m; (F. G. kftefo I,*1 ,* 4n/€ne &I^ojs# f Lj&don.)^ ■ "*frli6^ wafcdhirtg a^gull tiy 1 m;grangV*ring-- 1 ing- -curves '''an 1 > tlie"'eye' bf-^the guley; h&&\ any •stcimac}f' i for - fchfe'- algebra i<r'farlm'ulae^] ■oif Professor the ' lore ofJ^fcwistecT ■w.ing&tofr-GGefficiehtsfjof awn resistance, 'or fthe^all; <£ogma iio'f ;- the myopic motpholot gisk.'- ■—\ >■- ♦■ ■ -"■". ■>•■»,- - , To those - who spend their dives in ■ ifaland,. .ejlies, jjfc^e.' gulls , jbringvonemories' < of' the surnnver . JloHejay,- visions of dancing sunlit ieas and scudding yachted ,o£ dead calms when yachts' 3ie, idle,!; of .gales that,, lash 'the foot 'of "the cliff and bend~ the 'yjsllow itoppiek^'fliat'^haVe ep'eareS*" -the xn&bgf &J3631 near -its brow. 1 ' This a,i=6oc«i.tion. •of -seagulls- witß -the visit to' ihf' s coast, .'"'survives " in"- spite 'of their familiar' pre,'sence, floating beside 'the city 'bridges, or; «yen ; routing- for wiiJeworms 'onr Yorkshire ; ■uplands »andr Hampshire'" fellows, -Jar- out of i sight or" hearing of the waves.- On the -canvas, and 'in the 'grander seapiptures that will nevßr^-hang in (ivhe .Academy, the, gul)s haVje iV Jiheir place, -wheeling' likg kites "in tie, gale, ',paddljing-!qp. summer" "seas like ducks in the park,, 0r,7 .when, the' sea 1 is at neither extr'eine.o^f its^ .changing npods, preening"" flieir .pluniage' on en--crtisted rocks. 'Up' arid* down, the tidalestuaries they fly, "hovering over, the small fry. borne" in' onttkloß flawing of Hike waters •■and jpouncing oS th 3* sefrldcf l brit* with!, appetites that a -■Bourbon 1 might ''hay 6 envied. - For > the most parti they are slow birds,, .these , gulls. - .'They have not 'the ;-sound reasons of the, duck or .snipe 'for being other- | wise. The falcon "hai;.no use- for.- them, for' their, "flavour is not .exquisite, arid' cDßrser^-.flesK-eaters, .of the. land .as --they Tnijfht "nrease; are , kept at , ,bay > by . fheir in-'a66eßsibi'e'ejities->n the sea wall. a nncrw r danger has arisen fpr '.these insouciant*- fowl.' "•Trippers, arme3 witli-liired : fovs4ing;pieces, ! -take" base' advantage •pf i their' isluggieh flight and ' unsuspecting, nature, oand, - unable- * evW. Wiih ! :suclr' 'aids' to .their rho.liday- markmanship till ' ,outrig3it r - wound and maim- thenr.and. leave -them to. drift at tbef-mercy. •*>f«*n^'|ides. _ ; IjTo, spQ.rtsjman: can^ symp.aiihise with .suoh' de]sj*uctiop fcfe 'these 'towf' but un, fortunately it<^fi^d^vcd|idonation. in' "'th©. vapouring of 'economic' olologiste -wh6 should know .better. '--4D»Iy : -a year or two ago' a '3?eUow- of the Royal > Society preached'" war on" thfeT'.^giffle/^^im^utmg" on a 'hypo-, thesis -th^t; ; he ? .alleged.-^ tenable, th&H they ' damagod^heJi'Tierrin^ jSdieriea .tq- the extenfa ' of "' tweht^Fqur ' ' inilhon-c- p6un<fe F^. 7 annually.= '^ofrii^fr wKb^axe ;riot, peimitted 'to"write' f i*A.^. t ~aft-er tneiF^names, -and who could' not; "in many, cases, write it if t :were, iia.ve~a- juster apprecjatiojri ,of the eerjviaes'- rendered tihfy gwlli kntiwing^. J them . f<a£ifßricelesss«eft'v«SßgeS£ ' that •olS&rae >l {heir -harbours "of festering fieli- that-* would other-wise-keep away the summer' -visitors- who swell t^ejj,qlender,iev^riu_es. '.-»„"• =•»,! -'-' iT J -v "'" 1^ R as f ;BOori<i(dTea.m -(of Jcatehing' asj%p Jae"a gnll, so- wideawake - in 1 mbst'cifcumstanoes .are -these. .birds. t Ye*' on peaceful.' Julj n^h^wheri^jEsaiyrig/'Koiriei ja'nd-'iour 'pjc'^ftvp'^-paa^es^ BtUl'frdm Jthe'.3aind, •I **iiav« d'iui r ,* tKrougxi n little- companies .-of. them roosting on , the*" water. Landsmen. .Bomeiimes wonder! at> tW^oat'or the great, jflofck&_- pi .«uH*s .tbatnlowards-- flunset':jwend Ih'eir way -seaward, .generally- at-a^high B^j', tude, -where: the, spread of_,-their-wiriga indi-.' cafes tothe eve -ia'miljar , with sign*' "a gtr6ng r jw}fid nofciEelt 'on.^artßr j ..T t hese 4 rare,~ almost 'wilJißut eioop^tio% old birds with 1 ' %ne T>*irfect v white plumage -that in, gulls denotes" maturity.' They tuct -their heads ; tinder -their wings and may be "seen bobbing pon the wateV- like little 1 'tirhite bubyrf.' 1 J The tyounger c^eneratiori, olad in mottled raiment, roost in the cliffs, -and each summer's night, when the first creak of the capstan tells of jylchard nets., jtbou|"i-. ; to J?er Jiaiiled.^they, a sleepy .'fclijud the twink% "ling r 'light6 , 'of the' ' beeetting,^ the iugg^rs with -hungry cries; Recover iijg all the fish thatVfall back from the; meshes, 1 even" in unrebuked boldness ' "snatching a- few from^'thei scale-studded fllippefy-' decks. Yetthe- s-unletter^dii'.-fisliernien/ "t»ho ,-watch;jsaoh larceny feaincomplainmg, show a closer acquaintance. with the. gulls ecotfomy than the gentleman who impeached.' it> as-, .their jenemy..*. "'', ( - ' . , Knr . ..-tl-,., The_ seaigujfl '.is a , bird* of catholioj' menu. regard *1t seriously^ as "a" rival "of, the", fisherman is 'to overlook ifs love Of. .age." -It-may fehatdh titf occasibnal' * roach, jor dace* ■'from the ' -shallows' of "'some ; river, .but,» as it, can dive like the gannet .nor swim under the'sha^g, 'its. peculations. )4,t sea muatKbe.^yery ti;ifling.;jt jsj %weves, :i! Mi liUntjrjpg^scaY£ijgeI iUntjrjpg^scaY£ijger > „>fnd' .a 6cprfr. r wiU , afc;4o w '"; wftte - r Hf a -Cornisn Harbour of an^incr edible weight of decaying ■fish in.' surprisingly ( few , minutes,;- knowing. 'well -that* fhey are ! ''g6rgihg i; 'aga.ftist';' f tjme,." •afi« tßStf^irthey^delayinhe reYuVni^g Wfce-rs #ill r 6wfftly come'between fhe^m'-ariH tKe rest ot-Aheir meal. Yet, though- they; -can: be 'greedy ,on occasionji^thereraousti.beVdaya! of ' -jeaittness' bord^rin^i "onsaS&tsration.-t -^sThe, storm brings them little solace where there' are -"no open" .beaches ;.to^,jjollecj; sucja.jjet'sjim. as they qonld. ea£; ?<nd IdtJring^every' o,ther 'week' .the 'neap tides' decline to 'un"'cover tTie'^jioils of 'fiarbo'ur's'"and''estuarißS. •''. Where^tTiere'afe'no;fisfcfrig-bo r a.ts- tb'^pfo-i vide 'Trheir J daiiy~heed^ ; igulte; < 'ar'e quick to ■se«k jthe plougft-land-^ for. wireworms ■' or to - ,-JiriH^ the 'whereaboutsMpf -4tisfc-h^aps- Jtkely tb-.yjontai^-^rapa-'-to" fcheirc liking., v Such, a heap, fed by j%e t <3ußtear£s of.,three.,_pa^ishe6, stands a*i .Desconahjre market ipwn and'Jfmoulclers. w(tn fires, apparently* eternal., ,0n ' tjiis' bTolocausf 'of rrußbish;", which burns •wftiiin. Dartmoor, "'are: alP'all^ijimes "busy, settling' like Cultures' -dn' "some huge -carcase, and it is 'ah\aTnusing -sight '^vhen a." collapse in me -structure sends'joutra puff jof> white smoke ; tbat sets the- whole ravening pack screaming on the wing. . ... , It 4 ,-s'eems probable, that £hey n^resort, to. '^aC.aoM? chiefly in jj^r^. it oT ..gjffibs, "tiiougii ''their" 'enemies -perawtf m ; ¥ega,rdmg. grain as the object of their advinfure. We are "nowadays so "famili*r with the sight

of them far inland that it is perhaps jl commonplace to remark on. having observed them i almost throughout the South Western route between Bournemouth and Waterloo. The train passes, soon after leaving that resort, the rich manors of 'Heron 'Court, ..and the fact that a former Earl cf -Malmesbury mentions in his journals having in 1803 shob,onejjdn "the *i allows of- thai?«sta<&, jnjayjipogsibly b&'iinterpretedsa&jercideiffiß tha,t,. |tbeseit"bwdS'.of >>thA' seat.did tn^'t <■ ineaue^t ;c.ul%AtSd viands, .<s lmn.drfi^t y^ars^^KO) a^. «ommonhr,^as they- -do.to^daj. ' -,T, T t^^ . * t TQ, vl ine ,n^tuw3st_ . .whose. „. reUgjoa t -ts\ jwj'itten.-gn jae A; jewelled .wings, o^putpec- : fliw"ana"suri£ lri'ibhe- Qtyk recesses 6JE sea- ! I S^'ells^-'the l "v^^''n| i usclei3,'"'of tKe <ik .jyitfinph' *2ian""^any "clumsy 'ballp'ori'^t'hali Sv'er" Bluhderfed* aci-iss' -narrow-) seas.""" ' ; Tlie l "" i seßtrfull}-/securei"^in t -tKe'''posses-x eion of'wJJbßed'iffeßtrand^Wtfteiftight plumage,, floats --indifferent wover'r"theMXaging iswaters'^ jjanjd, loofe "down 1 with i'r» cootr- contempt 'on. ■}h§ sayagerß,- oiitS,e r sea would ;serid ,tfie -jmohtiest eagSe^panjcjetrieken for tha, eir&>. „\To:all it^s A'sW^ome symboLJinng-' ing inland, its megsage^ofjthe sea, and, «'ince, unlike the r Slßatross^'S" is" no "-great wafa?n trackless wa^rs, . cheering the .mariner" with its?promise i '»f tike lahd:V >