LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAISJ" GULLS AND TERNS. 141 



Nesting. — Mr. Hersey found a nest of this gull near St. Michael, 

 Alaska, on June 19, 1915, containing an Qgg on the i^oint of hatch- 

 ing and a young bird only a few hours' old. The nest was on a small 

 islet in a tundra pond; the islet was only a few yards long and about 

 2 feet above the level of the water. The nest was merely a hollow 

 in the ground, about 8 inches in diameter and 3^ inches deep, scantily 

 lined with dry grass ; it was located in the center and on the highest 

 part of the islet. His notes say : 



When about one-eighth of a mile away one of the parents flew about above 

 me screaming loudly. As I drew nearer the bird came lower down and when 

 within 75 yards of the nest she flew directly over it and hovered. While 

 photographing it both birds darted repeatedly at my head, and when I 

 Anally left they followed me for half a mile. 



Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1900) made some interesting observations on 

 the nesting habits of this species on the Kowak delta, Alaska. He 

 writes : 



The lakes which the short-billed gulls mostly frequented were usually sui'- 

 rounded by spruce trees, which in the delta are more low and scrubby than 

 farther in the intei-ior. I had in vain searched for the gulls' nests on small 

 bare islets in the lakes and on grassy points, such as the gulls with which I was 

 previously familiar would be likely to select for nesting sites. Although I 

 failed to find any sign of nests, still the birds, by their uneasy actions, inti- 

 mated that there must be eggs or young somewhere. Finally on the 16th of 

 June I determined to discover the secret, and, armed with patience, selected a 

 secluded hiding place among some scrub spruces near a lake, yet where I had 

 a good view of it. Two pairs of short-billed gulls kept flying about above me 

 for a long time, occasionally alighting on the tops of the spruces surrounding 

 the lake. I kept track of each of the four gulls as best I could, and finally saw 

 one settle close down on the bushy top of a tree on the other side of the lake. 

 Then it dawned on me that the nests might be in trees. I took my bearings on 

 the tree, and started around the lake. Before I had nearly reached the vicinity 

 I was met by the gulls, one of which began to dive at me again and again. 

 It would fly liigh above me and then swoop down past my head with a shrill, 

 startling scream. Just as the bird passed me it would void a limy mass of 

 faeces, and with sucli disagreeable precision that I was soon streaked with 

 white. On climbing the spruce, which was about 12 feet tall, I discovered the 

 nest. It was almost completely hidden from below by the flat, bushy top of 

 the spruce on which it was placed. The nest was a shapeless mass of slender 

 twigs and hay, 9 inche.s across on top. There was scarcely any depression and 

 I found the shells of two of the eggs broken on the ground beneath, probably 

 pitched out by a severe wind of the day before. The single egg secured was 

 considei'ably incubated. After I left the nest the gulls followed me a long 

 ways, dashing down at me at intervals as before descril)ed. I found several 

 more nests by carefully examining the bushy topped spruces around lakes, but 

 none contained eggs. Probably the .iaegers which I saw in the vicinity were 

 responsible for this. One of the nests was only about 7 feet above the water 

 on a leaning spruce at the edge of a pond. The rest of the nests were from 

 10 to 20 feet above the ground in spruces growing nearest the water's edge. 



