NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 245 



The Black-backed Gulls surpass all birds with which I am acquainted in 

 their shyness and wariness, which are so excessive that it is only by stratagem 

 that they can be procured. But two were shot by any of the party, both being 

 killed with guns exceeding in their range those to which the birds were accus- 

 tomed. They always fly at a great height over the water, and never alight 

 except in open situations which they have previously cautiously examined. 

 Their flight is firm, extremely powerful, performed with measured beats, and is 

 capable of being greatly protracted. They can force their way against the 

 strongest gales. Their food is principally fish of various kinds, though they 

 do not refuse offal of any description. To procure fish they hover at a height 

 of a few yards over the surface, and when one is espied drop heavily upon it, 

 not, however, closing the wings, which are elevated and flapped rapidly to sup- 

 port them. They seldom or never dive, but on such occasions are frequently 

 partially immersed. 



During the breeding season the birds are very noisy and clamorous, continu- 

 ally uttering their loud, harsh, rough cries. These are of three distinct kinds ; 

 the first, their usual call, is a loud, rough, sonorous " kaw-awk," aptly desig- 

 nated by Audubon as a ' furious laugh." They have also a short kind of bark, 

 resembling the syllables " hac-hac-hac ;" and in addition to these a loud harsh 

 scream, uttered when their territories are invaded. On the 31st of July I saw 

 a large number of these Gulls collected on the water some ten miles up Esqui- 

 maux Bay, where they filled the air with their loud continued cries, which 

 could be distinctly heard at a distance of nearly a mile. 



This Gull is universally known to the natives, as well as to sailors and fish- 

 ermen, as the " Saddle-backed Gull," or, quite as frequently, simply " Saddler." 

 I have never heard applied to it the name of " Coffee-carrier," said to be the 

 title by which it is designated along the coast of New England. 



Larus argentatus Briinn. HerriDg Gull. " Blue Gull." 

 Larus argentatus, And., Birds Amer. vii. 163, pi. 448. Lawrence, Gen. Rep. 844. 



The Herring or Silvery Gull is by far the most abundant of the Gulls along 

 the Labrador coast, where it breeds in great numbers, speuding the summer 

 months there, and not retiring at least until the second week in September. 

 They were as abundant as ever on the first of that month, when I noticed great 

 numbers of both old and young. I cannot, therefore, comprehend the state- 

 ment of Audubon, where, in his account of Larus marinus, he says : "No indi- 

 viduals of Larus argentatus were, to my knowledge, seen on that coast (Labra- 

 dor) during the three months that I passed there, and the fishermen told us 

 that the ' Saddle-backs were the only large Gulls that breed there.' " On many 

 of the innumerable small islands whieh form a belt six or eight miles deep 

 along the coast in the neighborhood of Little Mecattina, and southward, im- 

 mense companies of these Gulls had assembled to breed ; and at Esquimaux 

 Bay I found them breeding on the small ponds of the interior. They are every 

 where known to the natives as " Blue Gulls." 



On the 4th of July, at Sloop Harbor, I had an opportunity of visiting many 

 islands where these Gulls were breeding in great numbers. On approaching 

 one of the islands, where the birds were sitting quietly on their nests, or walk- 

 ing leisurely about, when we were still several hundred yards distant, they all 

 left their nests, and with loud discordant screams, indicative of their anger at 

 being disturbed, circled high over our heads far beyond the range of our guns. 

 I found the nests placed on the ground in the most irregular manner, appa- 

 rently without the slightest choice as to situation, except that they seemed to 

 prefer the moss- covered rocks and dry bare spots, the grassy patches being 

 appropriated by the few Eiders that bred on the same island. And here let 

 me remark, that on those low grassy islands where the Eiders were most nu- 

 merous, but few Gulls built their nests ; and vice versa, on those bare islands 

 where the Gulls had collected in great numbers, we found but few nests of the 



1861] 



