Observations in a Laughing Gull Colony 



209 



members of the genus, especially the Western Gull of our Paciiic Coast and 

 the Lesser Black-backed Gull of Europe, are notorious nest-robbers, but as 

 each of these is believed to invariably respect the eggs of its own species, the 

 act of the Cobb's Island l)ird appears by comjnirison the more strange and 

 incomprehensible. 



This avian tragedy reached its climax half an hour after the robber's 

 departure. At 6:20 p. m. a bird, apparently the returning owner, came wing- 

 ing across the pool from the direction of the beach, and circled high above 

 the nest; then for the first time catching sight of the ruin, she broke forth into 

 loud and prolonged cries of almost unmistakable anguish. 



A GREAT BLUE HERON WHICH CAME ABOARD THE S. S. 'ALMIRAXTE' 

 ABOUT .^oo MILES OFF THE COAST OF SOUTH CAROLINA 

 Photographed by Edward Harold Pound, November, igio 



