HABITS OF THE HERRING GULL—STRONG. 481 
I had a tent made similar to that described by Sawyer,! with some 
modifications (pl. 2, fig. i). For a description of this tent and for 
an account of methods and material employed, the reader is referred 
to the original paper in the Auk. 
II. SOCIAL OR COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS. 
Both juvenal and adult herring gulls seem to prefer the com- 
pany of other individuals of their age. My captive gulls and those 
I have seen wild are usually to be found in close groups, especially 
when at rest. However, they are often cruel to each other and like 
other animals will fight fiercely for food. 
A large amount of fighting occurs at a breeding place where no 
struggle for food is involved. Some of the encounters are undoubt- 
edly the results of intrusions upon a nesting precinct, as is Herrick’s 
opinion, and I saw adults resenting attacks upon the young by | 
other adults. Many of the fights, however, seem to indicate simple 
belligerency. A gull will approach another with head somewhat 
lowered and bill pomted straight forward or slightly upward. They 
will then grasp each other by the mandibles and attempt to drag 
each other about. Blows may be given with the wings and even 
with the feet. In plate 3, figure 1, such an encounter appears. The 
gull on the right is shown just at the moment when its wings have 
struck its opponent. The heads of the combatants appear in an 
oblique position as a consequence of the locking of mandibles. Fre- 
quently other gulls will join in the fracas and quite a lively but 
usually short and harmless tussle follows. I saw one fight broken 
up by another bird interfering much as a rooster may interfere in an 
encounter between two other cocks. Often a challenge to fight 
is not accepted, and the bird approached simply retreats. 
Various writers have mentioned the killing of young gulls by 
adults. According to Ward? this may be a very common occur- 
rence. 
Maltreatment of the young has also been described by Dutcher 
and Baily * and it has been discussed by Herrick.‘ I found that 
similar treatment was administered to a juvenal gull when it was 
placed in a cage with two juvenals 2 to 3 weeks older. One gull, 
the youngest of the three in the cage, was particularly persistent 
and savage in its attacks, so that I had to remove the newcomer 
until its head had healed and it was better able to defend itself. 
1 Sawyer, E. J., A special bird blind: Bird Lore, vol. 11, No. 2, March-April, 1909, pp. 71-73. One page 
of text figures. 
2 Ward, H. L., Why do herring gulls kill their young. Science, n. s., vol. 24, 1906, No. 619, pp. 593-594. 
3 Dutcher, W., and Baily, W. L., A contribution to the life history of the herring gull (Larus argentatus) 
in the United States: Auk. vol. 20, 1903, No. 4, pp. 417-31, pls. 21, 22. 
4 Herrick, F. H., 1909, Organization of the gull community: Proc. Seventh International Zool. Congress, 
Boston, 1907. 
73176°—sm 1914——31 
