But this is not the worst.

The gull sits on her nest, and resists the robber who comes for her eggs, and he must take care not to get bitten.

The murre remains until her enemy is close upon her; then she rises with a scream which often startles a thousand or two of birds, who whirl up into the air in a dense mass, scattering filth and guano over the eggers.
Nor is this all.

The gulls, whose season of breeding is soon past, are extravagantly fond of murre eggs; and these rapacious birds follow the egg-gatherers, hover over their heads, and no sooner is a murre's nest uncovered than the bird swoops down, and the egger must be extremely quick, or the gull will snatch the prize from under his nose.

So greedy and eager are the gulls that they sometimes even wound the eggers, striking them with their beaks.