484 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1914. 
As has already been stated in the introduction to this paper, a 
great variety of locations may be chosen for the nest. In general, 
it seems that uninhabited islands are preferred, where the nest may 
be anywhere on the beach or back some rods from the open beach 
in bushes, among tall herbaceous plants, or in grass, or upon rock 
ledges. Often the shelter of a drift log is chosen (pl. 5, fig. 2). 
Nests may be placed in trees under certain circumstances, a point 
that will be discussed elsewhere in this paper. 
As the males can not be distinguished from females by their plum- 
age, ordinarily, it is difficult to get data concerning the relative parts 
taken by the two parents in brooding. Dutcher and Baily * obtained 
evidence that both parents take part in brooding the eggs. Some 
observations were made by Dutcher and Baily? on the turning of 
the eggs by the brooding bird. They found that the eggs are some- 
times turned slightly with the bill when the bird goes on the nest, 
though in one case where each egg had been marked with an arrow, 
only one was found turned after the bird went on the nest. I also 
obtained some evidence of the eggs being turned by the bird. In 
some cases, as the parent nestled down over the eggs it appeared 
probable that at least a slight turning of eggs would occur. There 
was usually more or less shifting of the feet, body, and plumage, as 
the bird adjusted itself to the eggs and nest. This performance has 
been described in detail by Dutcher and Baily.? 
On very warm days, especially at midday, I found that the nest is 
left frequently for a few moments. At such times the bird goes to 
the water’s edge and takes at least a partial bath. There is much 
splashing of water with the bill and sometimes with the whole head. 
There is some drinking of water also at this time. 
So far as I could determine there is more or less brooding of the 
young for several hours after hatching or until they are able to run 
about. Often on a hot day one of the parents would simply stand 
over the newly hatched nestlings shading them from the sun (pl. 8, 
fig. 1). The other parent was usually near by, and it would change 
places with its mate at intervals. 
I doubt whether there is much covering of the young for more than 
a day or two after hatching, in pleasant weather. No observations 
were made in bad weather of the treatment of very young birds. I 
obtained considerable evidence that both birds participate in feeding 
the young. According to Herrick,*? the young gull receives its first 
food about one hour after hatching, at the nest. 
The larger juvenals tease vigorously for food when hungry, and the 
whole feeding performance for a young gull more than a few days old 
has been well described by Ward.* 
1 Op. cit., p. 426. 3 Internat. Zool. Congress Report, op. cit. 
2Op. cit., p. 427. 4 Op. cit., p. 121. 
