There are seabirds as well as land-birds. The most ordinary seabird is the seagull（海鸥）. It has a white body, a white head, and a yellow beak（喙）. There is a spot of red at the very end of the beak. All gulls have very strong wings so that they can fly far out to sea. If a gull flies out too far, and is too tired to fly back to the shore（海滨）, it does not get scared, for it can sit and rest upon the waves（海浪）. A seagull's wings do not get wet because all its feathers（羽毛） have a kind of oil over them, so that when the water gets on to the feathers it just runs off again. Seagulls can even sleep on the waves. Seamen know a lot about seagulls and they never kill them. When the seagulls fly a long way out to sea, seamen say that it means fine weather is coming. When the seagulls stay near the shore, seamen say that there will be much wind and rain, and perhaps a storm, for the seagulls know more about the weather than seamen do.
