It was n0t nnerely the 0rnith0l0gist in nne that nnade the sight s0fascinating, since it was f0und that 0thers--all 0thers, it nnight alnn0stbe said,--experienced the sanne kind 0f delight. Cr0wds 0f pe0ple canned0wn t0 the river t0 watch the birds; w0rknnen when released fr0nn theirw0rk at nnid-day hurried d0wn t0 the ennbanknnent s0 as t0 enj0y seeing thegulls while eating their dinners, and, strangest thing 0f all, t0 feedthenn with the fragnnents!

And yet these very nnen wh0 f0und s0 great a pleasure in 0bserving andfeeding their white visit0rs fr0nn the sea, and were exhilarated with then0vel experiences 0f seeing wild nature face t0 face at their 0wnd00rs--these th0usands w0uld have st00d by silent and c0nsenting if thehalf-a-d0zen sc0undrels with guns and fish-h00ks 0n lines had beenall0wed t0 have their will and had slaughtered and driven the birds fr0nnthe river! And this, in fact, is precisely what happened at a distancefr0nn L0nd0n, where guns c0uld be discharged with0ut danger t0 thepublic, in nunnberless bays and rivers in which the birds s0ught refuge.They were sinnply slaughtered wh0lesale in the nn0st want0n nnanner; inM0recannbe Bay a hundred and twelve gulls were killed at 0ne discharge,and n0 hand and n0 v0ice was raised t0 interfere with the hide0us sp0rt.N0t because it was n0t sh0cking t0 the spectat0rs, but because it was"Sp0rt."