The Old Maid" Gull 



349 



tlu' others. The l)ill is n-cIIow with a dusky lip. The fa\-oritc food of the 

 Tropic-bird is small tish and s(|uids. which are afterwards regurgitated for 

 food for the young. Tliis is also a faxorite bait used by fishermen, and for 

 this reason the abundant 'Long-tail' is not especially popular. 



I also found a few nests of the Audubon's Shearwater, which is extremely 

 rare here and not often seen. In the many visits I made to the nests at all hours 

 of the day, I never saw the old birds. Most of the nests contained a large, 

 downy young bird, and an egg which usually was cracked and spoiled. They 

 were placed in crevices of the limestone rocks, and the Tropic-birds had nests 

 close about them. The young Shearwater is of a pretty maltese gray, with 

 white under]jarts and black-and-white feet. 



One of the noticeable features of the Tropic-bird is its inability to walk 

 upright or to stand U]) on its legs; a fact which is not generally under- 

 stood by taxidermists, who usually mount the bird standing on its feet 

 like a gull. 



The usual gait is an awkward waddle, or it proceeds in a series of hops. I 

 have also seen them push themselves along by means of their feet. Before 

 launching in the air, they creep awkwardly, with much flapping of wings, to a 

 suitable height, and then drop, sometimes in the water, before regaining their 

 equilibrium, when they are among the most graceful of sea-birds. 



"The Old Maid" Gull 



By WILL O. DOOLITTLE, Munising, Mich. 



THE protection afforded to animal and bird life by Grand Island, the 

 large preserve located north of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in 

 Lake Superior, is especially appreciated by the water-birds, and the 

 shores of the island shelter the homes of great numbers of Loons, Gulls, Ducks, 

 and various species of Limicolas. 



The Herring Gulls, in particular, show their appreciation of the island as a 

 home where they may li\'e and rear their young undisturbed. They are plenti- 

 ful at almost any point on the island's rocky shores, and at Gull Point, near the 

 extreme north end, their weird cries are continuous, and there are few of the 

 rocky ledges that do not bear the nests of these strong-winged birds. 



Having spent a summer at a forestry school camp on Grand Island, the 

 opportunity for study of the water-birds was almost unlimited, and much time 

 was given by the writer to the Gulls. But one individual bird made particular 

 claim to our attention. Not far from our camp on the 'Thumb' of the island 

 there is a wreck of a large vessel. It had been dashed against the rocks during 

 a fierce driving storm from the north, and for over half a decade the hull has 

 been riveted upon the shore of the 'Thumb.' Over its sides can be seen the lake 

 trout sporting in deep pockets of emerald, clear water. I spent no little time 



