104 BIRD WATCHING 



arrived flies away, and, on returning again, brings 

 nothing. Sometimes a gull may be seen walking 

 with moss or heather in the bill, whilst its consort 

 walks beside it, but without having anything. When 

 the heather is placed by the one bird, the other stands 

 by and seems interested, but does not assist, and no 

 further supply is brought. It would appear, therefore, 

 that only one bird — and this, no doubt, the female — 

 actually builds the nest, though the other — the male 

 — may look on and take a greater or less amount of 

 intelligent interest in what she is doing. But though 

 the above is from the life it hardly seems possible that 

 gulls could get their nests done at all if they worked 

 no better than this. When I first got to that island 

 " de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme," but few eggs 

 had yet been laid and many of the nests were only 

 half finished, or not even so far advanced as that. 

 Most, however, were completed, or nearly so, and it is 

 probable that what I saw represented merely the 

 finishing touches, which will also apply to the great 

 skuas. 



What I saw was, indeed, very little, and it is only 

 a surmise that the female gull builds the nest without 

 being aided by the male. I think so, however, because 

 usually, when both the male and female assist in the 

 building, they work together, and whilst collecting the 

 materials keep more or less in each other's company, 

 arriving with them either at the same time or shortly 

 after each other. This, at least, has been the case with 

 those birds which I have watched. I have, indeed, 

 seen two gulls pulling up the moss or heather within 

 a yard or so of each other, and these I at first put 

 down as a married couple. This, however, was not 



