104 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXIV. 



largest also had feathers of this plumage all across 

 the breast and in the tail. Most of the young 

 which are old enough to do so hide among ferns, 

 bushes, grass, or rocks when the old birds leave 

 an island at the approach of an intruder, but a 

 few enter the water and swim rapidly away for a 

 little distance. They are good swimmers, but can 

 be overtaken easily by a rowboat. Those which 

 hide usually remain quiet until they believe they 

 are discovered, when they try to run, but they are 

 slow and clumsy runners. 



Gulls were the Black Duck (Anas ruhripes). Spot- 

 ted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia). Ruby-throated 

 Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). Purple 

 Finch (Carpodacus purpureas purpureus), Song 

 Sparrow (Melospiza melodia melodia), Yellow 

 Warbler (Dendroica aestiva aestiva), and Mary- 

 land Yellow-throat (Ceoihlypis Irichas trichas). 



The colony of Gulls was first shown to me in 

 June, 1912, by Mr. E. C. Allen, now of Halifax, 

 N.S., who has given a brief account of it in his 

 "Annotated List of Birds of Yarmouth and Vi- 



THE CHALLEXGE A GREAT BLACK-BACKED Gl'LL CALLING AT LAKE GEORGE. 

 Photo by Howard H. CIeave.s; reproduced by permis.sion Cut by courtesy of 



Dominion Partes Rrancli. 



On the gentle slopes of the islands the nests are 

 mere hollows in the earth, generally with some lin- 

 ing of sticks and dead grass or Usnea lichen. Nests 

 which are placed on piles of large boulders are 

 much more substantial, as the character of the site 

 necessitates, and are solidly built of grass, sticks, 

 and rubbish. In some cases I noticed that the grass 

 was still green. In one instance only did I find a 

 nest lined with down, and, as that was on Round 

 Island, it was probably a Herring Gull's nest. 



Other birds observed on the islands used by the 



cinity. Southwestern Nova Scotia" (Trans. N.S. 

 Inst, of Sci., Vol. XIV, Part 1, pp. 67-95, Jan. 5, 

 1916). A month later I again visited it, this time 

 in company with Mr. Howard H. Cleaves, now 

 of Albany, N.Y., who then made some splendid 

 photographs of the gulls in their home, some of 

 which were published in the 'National Geographic 

 Magazine' for June, 1914, and some of which, by 

 his kind permission, appear herewith. I visited 

 the colony in July, 1913, and July, 1914, also. In 

 those years there were not more than two-thirds 



