HABITS OF THE HERRING GULL—STRONG. 497 
pan just before feeding the gulls. Another pan contained similar 
pieces of herring without any salt. The birds were very hungry, 
not having been fed since the previous evening. All three birds 
showed great aversion for the salted fish. Two ate of the salted 
food at once and the other jomed them in a moment. The response 
was immediate, one bird disgorging what it had swallowed. Another 
dropped what it had taken, and the third swallowed only one piece. 
All three birds ran to water in less than a minute and drank heartily, 
though they had taken very little of the solution. They did not 
return to the food during 20 minutes that I waited. Experiments 
with other materials were carried on after this until September 6, 
1911, when a 10 per cent solution of sodium chloride was employed. 
Pieces of liver were placed in the solution. The birds were exceed- 
ingly hungry and ate voraciously, paymg no attention to the salt 
solution. On September 23 a 20 per cent solution of common table 
salt was tried with pieces of liver. The birds were not so hungry at 
this time. One went to the dish containing the salt solution and 
picked up a piece of liver with the tip of its berk. After a few 
minutes of cautious manipulation of the liver it was taken into the 
bird’s mouth, only to be hurriedly ejected. The gull at once jumped 
into the swimming tank and drank water, washing its beak vigorously. 
The other gulls did uot take any food on this occasion while I was 
present. Later, similar reactions were obtained with weaker solutions 
of table salt and also with weak acids. Food was often rejected, 
even when the taste was just perceptible to me under the conditions 
of the experiments. 
So far I have almost no significant results with bitter and sweet 
solutions, although a great many tests have been attempted. This 
has been surprising to me, as results were obtained readily with chicks 
and ducklings for the same solutions, with food, however, which 
would hold more of the solution. 
The point of greatest interest to naturalists, perhaps, is the 
reaction to salt solutions, as it has long been a question to what 
extent sea birds drink sea water or tolerate it in their food. My 
gulls were fresh-water birds, of course, as they came from Green 
Bay, but field observations on salt-water gulls are in agreement with 
"my experimental results, so far as they go. 
My own observations indicate that herring gulls, in cold weather, 
at least, do not need to drink often. They do not wander far from 
land relatively, and they are probably usually within a reasonable 
distance from fresh water. 
Though fish and other meat that has begun to spoil are eaten to 
some extent by very hungry gulls, fresh food is evidently preferred. 
My captive gulls never touched spoiled liver, for instance, if not very 
73176°—sM 1914-32 
