James McKenzie spat a piece of his tongue in the street after Bethaney Ryan, 27, brutally ripped it with her teeth during an incident in Edinburgh.
The great gull then flew down and grabbed the fleshy muscle in its beak, then cleared before the injured man could retrieve it.
The Edinburgh Sheriff Court was made aware of the horrific incident – which mutilated the victim for life – when Ryan appeared in port last Thursday to plead guilty to the attack.
Prosecutor Susan Dickson said the pair clashed when they passed each other on the capital’s Leith Walk on August 1, 2019 at around 8 p.m.
Ms. Dickson said the pair were strangers to each other, but “an argument developed” between them and the court heard that Ryan had initially tried to walk away from the confrontation.
The tax authorities said McKenzie remained aggressive towards Ryan and approached her again with “a clenched fist.”
Mrs. Dickson said, “Miss Ryan responded, somewhat strangely, by pushing him on the body and kissing him.
“She kissed him on the lips and in the process she bit his tongue, removing a piece of his tongue.
“Mr. McKenzie walked away and spat out part of his tongue, after which the piece of muscle was picked up by a large seagull who took off with the piece of tongue.”
The taxman told the court that the piece of tongue bitten off during the battle was about two inches by three inches.
Ryan was later arrested by police and McKenzie went to hospital for treatment where “the crack in his tongue” was said to “leak blood.”
The tax authorities added, “There was no need for surgery as the piece of tongue was no longer available and could not be reattached.”
Attorney Neil Martin, defensively, said his client’s attack, of Lochend, Edinburgh, was “a very strange incident in the round,” but added that he would reserve his full mitigation for the sentencing hearing.
Sheriff Nigel Ross said “because of the seriousness of the incident” he had to postpone the penalty for writing reports until later this year.
Ryan pleaded guilty to assaulting James McKenzie by pushing him on the body, kissing him and biting off part of his tongue for his serious injury and permanent deformity at Leith Walk, Edinburgh, on August 1, 2019.