350 Bird -Lore 



leaning over the sides of the wreck, angling for the fish, and it was here I made 

 my acquaintance with this particular Gull. 



Dreamily gazing into the water, I was startled by a shrill, harsh cry close 

 to my ears, and a rush of air as some object passed close to my head. After an 

 involuntary recoil, I observed the angry bird, as it swooped out across the lake 

 and then returned to make another dash in my direction. There were no 

 other Gulls in the vicinity, and the repeated near-assaults by the furious bird 

 led me to suspect a nest near or upon the boat, so I began a search which 

 proved fruitless. While I lingered near the wreck, the bird did not cease its 

 worried cries nor its swift darts in my direction. 



During the few weeks following, the members of the camp were favored 

 with many acts of courage by this Gull. One day a Loon was riding the waters 

 of the lake about a quarter of a mile from the camp, when, from "her" retreat 

 near the wreck, the Gull came sailing at full speed and made a spirited dash 

 straight for the Loon. But the quickness of the Gull's attack was insufficient 

 for the the Loon dived with the usual alertness of its kind in times of danger, 

 and the Gull struck the water with a velocity which would have stunned a 

 bird less accustomed to alighting upon the surface of the water. As soon as 

 the Loon arose, the Gull renewed the attacks, and they were repeated many 

 times, always with the same result, until the Loon evidently wearied of the 

 game and departed. 



The following day two of the students went past the wreck in a large row- 

 boat. The size of the craft did not dismay the Gull, and immediately she set 

 out in hot pursuit, fanning the faces of the young men with her long wings. 

 She would not touch them, but could have been struck by an oar with ease, 

 in any of her repeated dashes in the direction of the rowers. 



The peevish vigilance of the Gull, and her persistent attacks upon anyone 

 or anything that invaded her self-abrogated precincts, finally became tiresome, 

 and, as she seemed to have no mate and many searches of both wreck and rocks 

 brought to light no nest, the students styled her "The Old Maid" and looked 

 upon her as a nuisance. 



Often in the dead of night she could be heard uttering her angry notes, 

 and one morning, after an unusually noisy session, we found the body of a 

 dead Gull upon a large, flat rock that lies in the water in front of our camp. Its 

 neck was broken, and its presence there was something of a mystery, but the 

 activity of "The Old Maid" led us to believe that she was responsible for the 

 death. 



She had two distinct calls: one of anger, which she employed the more 

 frequently, and one of alarm, which occasionally served to bring several other 

 Gulls to the spot; but, after soaring around for a few minutes, they would 

 leave, and we began to think that she was an outcast from her own kind. 



The Red-breasted Mergansers were numerous on the shores of the 'Thumb,' 

 but they found no peace within the lines of that part of shore and lake which 



