Lesson 7 Death of a Gull

John J. Rowlands

Here on the edge of the North Atlantic ocean, sea gulls are a common sight. In the course of a week, we see thousands of them in many different sizes and colors. There are the gray-winged herring gulls and the great blackbacks from the arctic. In summer the brown young herring gulls come.

We hear the irregular, uneasy calling of the gulls in the hush[1] before a storm at night. By day, we hear their sudden excited loud noise when then catch sight of a school of fish. We watch them soaring easily on motionless wings at the height of a gale. They know every twisting trick of the wind and have an answer for it. They have perfect mastery of flight.

We also see them dozing on the ledges[2] near the sea on a quiet day. Yet we seldom see a dead gull. We find feathers, to be sure, and once in a while a single wing.

But very rarely do we see a dead bird. Some people say the sea rats get them before we ever have a chance to find them. Maybe so.

In all my years by the sea, only once have I seen a dying gull. It was on a warm and windless afternoon. I noticed a big herring gull on the highest point of the great barrier ledge that lies between us and the sea. The gull was resting with its breast pressed to the rock. Its head was bowed, and it looked like an old man sleeping the last measure of his life away. Now and then the bird struggled to its feet and took a few unsteady steps, only to sink to the rock again.

Anyone who has shared the sea with the gulls knows how they rest. Whether on the water or on land, they always turn to face the wind. They are good weather vanes[3],better than the mechanical ones, which may swing with the slightest change in air currents. The gull on the rock had its back to the wind. When I saw that, I knew that it must be a very sick bird. Only a bird that was close to death would fail to follow one of its strongest instincts. The gull was less than two hundred feet away. Through my binoculars[4] I could see that its eyes were closed most of the time and that its bill[5]rested on the rock.

I watched the gull on and off all afternoon. Little by little, a few inches at a time,it moved toward the rim of the ledge. Once there, it edged down the sloping rock face,heading toward the water.

Late in the day the big black-and-white cat that repeatedly guards our shore in search of mice discovered the sick bird. She set up a death watch, lying with her belly to the ground, slowly inching forward toward the gull until I drove her away.

At sunset the gull was resting on a point of rock that would be close to high water when the next tide came in. That would happen a few minutes after midnight. Now in the last little surge[6] of life before death, the gull was facing into the light northerly breeze. It had lifted its head a little and seemed to be looking out to sea.

That afternoon no gulls came near our point. The single loon that winters just off the shore was no longer there. The cormorants[7] that usually sit on Round Rock, with their wings spread out wide to dry, were missing too. The gulls that we usually saw late in the day flying westward along the edge of the water had changed their course. They chose, instead, to fly offshore. I have heard that dying creatures instinctively seek to be alone as they await the moment of death. It seemed that in avoiding our shore, the other gulls were giving their sick friend the privilege of privacy. They were allowing him the dignity of dying alone.

I kept looking at the bird through my glass from time to time until nightfall. Then the darkness of night drew a curtain on the scene, and I could watch no more.

During the night the wind shifted to the northeast, and a cold and damp breeze sprang up. I woke up and reached for an extra blanket to make myself comfortable. As I did so, I remembered the dying gull and wondered what had happened to it.

The light of sunrise brought the answer. The gull was lying, with its wings outstretched, at the high mark of the midnight tide. It looked as if it had made an effort to start off on its last flight. I wondered whether instinct had led it to move down the ledge to meet the incoming tide. The water had given it life and nourished it. Now the tide would bring it final peace.

Before the sun was very high, the gulls were flying over the shore ledges again. It was as if nothing had happened. Death for a gull had come and gone, and the time for dying alone was over.

(854 words)

Exercises

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. [Draw a conclusion] Because the author drove the cat away, we know that he___________ .

A. doesn’t have a sense of humor

B. is sympathetic toward the gull

C. is determined

2. [See the result] The author thought that other gulls avoided the shore out of___________ .

A. fear B. habit C. kindness

3. [Evaluate the information] The author guessed that the gull went toward the water to___________ .

A. quench its thirst B. meet the tide C. hide from view

4. [Give the reason] The author takes a long time in telling about the gulls because he wants to___________ .

A. show the reader that he knows about them

B. help the reader imagine the setting of the story

C. show how strange it is never to see a dead gull

5. [Understand the main idea] The author probably thinks that nature is___________ .

A. cruel B. majestic C. charming

6. [Give the reason] The author knew the bird was sick because it___________ .

A. sat on the ridge

B. did not face the wind

C. looked out to sea

7. [Check the details] The author pointed out that gulls___________ .

A. have difficulty flying in a storm

B. are never seen flying when a storm is coming

C. fly perfectly in a storm

8. [Note the fact] The author compared the dying gull to___________ .

A. an old man B. a piece of driftwood C. the fading sun

Ⅱ. Read for words:1. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined words.

(1) Here on the edge of the North Atlantic ocean, sea gulls are a common sight.(Para. 1)

A. line where something begins or ends

B. cutting part of a blade

C. advantage

(2) Here on the edge of the North Atlantic ocean, sea gulls are a common sight.(Para. 1)

A. often seen B. belonging to the public C. second-rate

(3) We hear the irregular, uneasy calling of the gulls in the hush before a storm at night. (Para. 2)

A. uncomfortable B. awkward C. restless

(4) Whether on the water or on land, they always turn to face the wind. (Para. 3)

A. put a surface on B. meet C. give a false appearance

2. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined expressions.

Only a bird that was close to death would fail to follow one of its strongest instincts. (Para. 5)

A. was near in space B. almost reached C. refused

Ⅲ. Writing practice:In not more than 150 words describe why the gull died alone. Do not include anything that is not in the passage.

Answer these questions in note form to get your points:

1. Where was the big herring gull?

2. How was it resting? Why did it do like this?

3. Why did the gull on the rock have its back to the wind?

4. Why do dying creatures seek to be alone? What do other gulls do? Why?

5. What was the ending?

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