UNCLE BARNEY’S TALE

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 471, 4 June 1932, Page 18 (Supplement)

UNCLE BARNEY’S TALE

GULLS. Not far from Stapleton Road dwells a gull. Less than a year ago he was found in the Waimakariri Riverbed just a fluffy ball. He was weaned upon worms, hand-fed. He and the cat put in the days together as good chums. He bathes often in between meals. Trespassing cats and dogs get their tails bitten —always a beakful of fur or hair short. One day, by mistake, he bit the home cat’s tail and had his eye badly scratched. Mistakes aid the memory. At dusk a click of the fingers calls him to his box bed. Its darkness keeps him quiet in early mornings. Otherwise he would begin wailing over-early. His cry gives rise to his name thus: Welsh gwylan, Breton gwelan—wail. The Italian is gulone, in short, gull, from old English gowle. The rapid rush (ravenous and voracious) for food gives rise among humans to the defect called gullibility. Remember, gulls are protected under the Wild Birds’. Protection Acts.