JOURNAL UK MAI NIC ORNITIIOI.OGIC AI, SOCIIvTV. 59 



directh' rose into the air and hovered over us all the time we were 

 there. These were the Laut;hing Gulls which we had come to see, 

 and they were of special interest to us, since nowhere else in this 

 State can they be found. The Laughinj^ Gull is about two-thirds 

 as large as the Herring Ciull, hut in the air he does not appear to 

 be much smaller, on account of the wide spread of his wings. He 

 is distinguished readily by his black head and the larger patches of 

 black on the under side of his wings, his outer quill-feathers being 

 sable. The cries of these small Gulls are shrill and musical and 

 often they sound like cackling laughter, ha, ha, ha, several times 

 repeated. It is a pleasing chorus, differing in this respect from the 

 shrieking of the Herring Gulls and the tearing and ripping uproar 

 of the Terns. The Gulls came down quite near us and from their 

 behavior it is evident that they have not been disturbed on their 

 breeding ground, a fact in which we all rejoice. While the birds 

 were in the air, wheeling back and forth, we could count them 

 pretty accurately, with the result that we made the number to be 

 about fift}^ 



The Laughing Gulls formerly bred on other islands, farther 

 eastward, but gradually they have withdrawn from every place but 

 this, hence the care which is now^ taken to protect them and guard 

 them from disturbance. The conditions here are evidently to their 

 liking, otherwise they would not return year after year. The outer 

 edges of the island are formed of great blocks of coarse granite, 

 while the high ground is covered with a dense mass of vegetation, 

 the beach grass growing rankly and a tangle of bindweed, beach 

 pea, Scotch lovage and dodder making the place hard for a man 

 to cross. Here the Black-polls (so-called by reason of their dark 

 heads), build their rude nests on hummocks and rear their young 

 beneath the vines, securely sheltered from the mid-summer sun. 

 There are pathway's in the grass where they pass and repass to and 

 from the rocks, some of these being well trodden roads. We saw 

 one or two addled eggs and hidden securely from sight there were a 

 few young birds, their wing feathers not yet grown. One of these was 

 found after a persistent search, and even then it would have escaped 



