THE RING-BILLED GULL. 



737 



Goine' north al 



the Ijeach road from Blaine, as the tide neared the 



■flood. I caught sight of a newly-arrived company of these Gulls upon an outer 

 reef. Noting a bar niid\va\' l)et\veen them and the beach,, to which the}' windd 

 be likelv to retire if not alarmed, I stole up to a sheltered spot comnuuuling a 

 view of the latter location. Here at ch.ise range I had the satisfaction of 

 seeing the birds alight gracefully one by one until a company of twenty-six 

 awaited the last ad\'ances of the tide. One menil>er of the tlock had his sus- 

 picions of the dark object ashore, antl published them from time to time in a 

 high-pitched note of protest. In uttering this the Ijird first thrust his head 

 forward with mandibles far a[)art. and began squealing. This noise he con- 

 tinued with increasing vol- -- •,*_"- ume while 

 head straight up, and then 

 ing the moon. In sub- 

 "position" again, and M '\' 

 lower and finer note, m -X 

 either slighth- ajar 



throwing his 

 further, like a dog bay- 

 siding, he came to 

 ended by dnniing a 

 with m a n d i l:i 1 e s 

 or closed outright. 



From a Pliotograph, Copyrigiit . 1907, by II'. L. DdZL'SOn. 



THE MESSE.VGERS OF PEACE. 



CL'LLS ON M.\DE LANDS, SE.\TTLE. 



Without further retreat the tlock awaited quietly the oncoming of the 

 ti<le, and allowed it to lift them, like stranded boats, clear of their anchorage, 

 after which they swam slowh' out to sea. 



We encountered these birds in small numbers aljout Moses Lake in Alay, 

 igo6, and surmised that they were breeding in S(ime out-of-the-way swamp 

 among the sand-hills. The}- were in high plumage, and their notes at this 

 season had a mellowness and depth entirel}- strange. 



It is no small satisfaction to note that the barbarous custom of adorning 

 ladies' hats with the [uuloined plumage of these graceful gulls has about 

 disappeared. To be sure, they did look very jaunty, but the hasty effigy of 



