LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN GULLS AND TERNS. 115 



Olive Thome Miller says that the young herring gull has " a 

 querulous cry like a puppy in distress." 



I have often been struck with the resemblance of some of their 

 notes to the rattling of blocks in the rigging of a vessel. 



The usual alarm cry may be represented by the syllables, kah-kak- 

 kak^ or by a series of ha ha has. Herrick writes it as '•^ waiv-ioak- 

 wak! wak-ioak! wak-wakP'^ Strong decided on the syllables ''''kek- 

 kek-kek^'' with the accent on the first syllable. Ward also distin- 

 guishes a " challenge cry where the bird stretches its neck up at an 

 angle of 45° and holds its whole body rigidly while the cry is 

 emitted with great vehemence. This I have previously described 

 under courtship. Bent's notes refer to this cry as the "trumpeting 

 call " and state that this is 



the most striking and spectacular vocal performance of all the varied notes 

 heard on the breeding grounds. It is usually given from a tree, stump, or 

 other perch, but often from the ground. The neck is outstretched to its full 

 extent, pointing upwards at an angle, and the mouth is opened wide. The 

 call begins with a loud, shrill, prolonged scream, which is followed by a long 

 series of shorter notes, rapidly uttered, sometimes as many as 10 or 12 In 

 the latter. It sounds like queeeee-aJi, quale, quale, quale, guak, quale, quak, 

 quale, quale,, quak, quak. As one bird starts on this call it seems to challenge 

 others to join in the chorus, until perhaps a dozen birds are all giving it at 

 once like a loud ringing chorus of college cheers. 



Strong represents the call as keee, kee ek, kee ek, kee ek^ kee ek^ 

 etc. I have noted it as ko-ah^ ko-ah^ etc., as well as ku-ku, or kee 

 ke, kee^ the last named high pitched and rapidly repeated. At 

 times the notes are clear and bugle like; again squeaking or rattling; 

 again the birds emit hissing whistles, which are very different from 

 the other notes and very characteristic. There is evidently great 

 individual variation in the notes as well as variations due to many 

 moods and circumstances. 



The herring gull associates with a number of other sea birds in 

 the same haunts. With the great black-backed gull it has not in- 

 frequent encounters on the score of food, but it is fair to say that 

 the larger bird is more often the aggressor. 



Arthur Saunders writes : 



I have seen the common crow rob the gull of mussels which they have 

 dropped on the rocks to break. The crows sit on the rocks until a gull drops a 

 mussel near it, then walk up and seize the mussel before the gull has time to 

 get it again. The gulls do not seem to resent this at all. They generally act as 

 though they did not know where the mussel had gone to and fly off to hunt for 

 another. 



I have several times seen a herring gull fly at a whistler who was 

 swimming near-by. The whistler always dove at the approach of 

 the gull, who would settle on the water where the duck went down. 

 In a few seconds he would start off for another duck, and the process 



