INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE IN BIRDS 



85 



Fig. 17. Imperfect nest of Great Herring Gull, illustrating the beginning 

 of a new breeding cycle, when too late to be finished. Chips, grass, and roots have 

 been brought to the new site. Great Duck Island, Maine, July 20. 



Of the seventy-seven nests which had seen service in the season, 

 eight only contained addled eggs. It was certain that none of the new 

 nests, with or without eggs, could ever come to anything, and probably 

 most were never finished. They are made to be abandoned, sooner or 

 later, with the rise of stronger instincts. A new cycle is begun, but 



Fig. 18. Nest of Gull, illustrating the same tendency as that shown in Fig. 

 17, but where the old nest was " repaired," or used as a site for the new one. The 

 body of a dead chick was worked into this nest, and the old bird was incubating an 

 addled egg. July 22. 



