500 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1914. 
being active, and I have not seen them showing such distress from 
cold. 
IX. BATHING AND DRINKING. 
References have already been made in this paper to the frequency 
with which herring gulls bathe in warm weather. My captive gulls 
enjoyed swimming and bathing in their tank, even m winter, so long 
as the temperature of the air was not very much below freezing. 
When swimming, the herring gull sits high on the water, probably in 
part because of the large amount of air contained in the dense ventral 
plumage. Possibly this extreme buoyancy, which also involves a 
large pneumatization of the skeleton, explains the fact that gulls do 
not often dive to the extent of completely immersing their bodies. 
When bathing the herring gull dips its bill, and often the entire 
head, into the water with rapid bowing movements. At the same 
time the wings are flapped vigorously and water is splashed over the 
entire body. The performance is more or less the same whether the 
bird is floating on water or standing in shallow water. 
During the colder weather of the winter my captive gulls were de- 
prived of all opportunities for bathing, as their tank was emptied. 
They became very dirty, poncoquentiys in a city like Chicago. With 
the coming of each spring the tank was refilled and a regular orgy of 
bathing followed. Each bath lasted for several minutes and was fol- 
lowed by feather dressing and partial drying of the plumage. Then 
another bath was taken. This would continue for an hour or more. 
In the course of two or three days the plumage became quite clean. 
On July 29, 1911, I found a young herring gull at one of the Straw- 
berry Islands in well-developed plumage and apparently old enough 
to fly. It was sitting quietly on the ground at the base of a tree 50 
feet from water. On examination I found the bird to be very much 
emaciated; it was too weak to make effective efforts to escape—in 
fact it could not stand upright. I took the gull to the water and 
gave it a chance to drink. It was evidently very thirsty and drank 
eagerly. After taking what water it wished the bird took a bath, 
going through such movements as its limited strength and my grasp 
would allow. During the following week I gave this bird frequent 
opportunities to bathe, always holding it in my hands, and the bath 
was always taken without hesitation. The principal features were a 
plunging of the head under water with a quick removal, followed by 
a shake of the head, which splashed water over the body. This bird 
ate ravenously, but it was too weak to stand up for any length of 
time and died in about two weeks. An autopsy was performed by 
a pathologist, who was unable to find any other explanation for its 
death than the starvation the bird had experienced before I found it. 
During the bathing performance the gull appears to drink more 
or less water, but it is difficult to say how much is taken. In hot 
