HABITS OF THE HERRING GULL—STRONG. 503 
I noted a female red-breasted merganser playing in the water not 
many feet away. Song sparrows were singing, and bronzed grackles 
were active. A few minutes later a very small juvenal gull ran to 
the edge of my tent some 50 feet from where I first sawit. It passed 
within 5 feet of two adults, who gave it no attention. The sun rose 
about 4.20, and at 4.25 two adult gulls came within 3 feet of my tent, 
where they remained about a minute. They then flew away a short 
distance and returned to a point about 10 feet distant. No birds 
were seen on nests, as the incubation season was over on this island. 
At 4.40 I noted gulls bathing, and at 5 I saw a very small juvenal 
paddling ashore. A fight occurred between two adults which was 
broken up by the interference of a third adult. About the same 
time I saw an attack on a juvenal gull by an adult resented by another 
adult. Challenge cries and mewing calls made a great noise at this 
time. Other juvenals which had been standing near the place where 
the attack was made disappeared. 
A few moments later I saw three gulls worrying a great blue heron 
in full flight, much as kingbirds harass a crow. The heron finally 
disappeared in the woods on the largest of the Strawberry Islands, 
where a heronry was located, and from which I had heard noises 
throughout the night. 
Another fight between adults occurred at 5.15, and, as usual, with 
no apparent injury to the participants. When the contest was over 
the two birds faced each other and made a feint at renewing hostilities. 
Then they went through the challenge performance simultaneously. 
At 5.25 I noted that J had seen no feeding and that most of the 
juvenals gave no evidence of desiring their parents, but at 5.45 I saw 
a downy juvenal teasing an adult for food, and a feeding occurred a 
few minutes later. After the feeding both birds drank water, and 
the adult swam out from shore about 20 feet where it took a bath. 
I noted at 6.25 that downy juvenals were standing idly most of the 
time or dressing their plumage. An adult approached a juvenal, 
and another adult flew to the spot, apparently to drive the first adult 
away. 
T was unable to determine what the gulls were doing during the 
darker part of the night after the setting of the moon beyond the fly- 
ing already mentioned. Judging from the sounds, many of them were 
on the water, as was the case during Ward’s night at Gravel Island. 
_ Whether the falling of the board had anything to do with the absence 
of the gulls from at least my part of the island is uncertain. As the 
birds left Gravel Island at nearly the same time in the evening accord- 
ing to Ward’s observations, there is some reason to believe that the 
board accident was not responsible. It is conceivable that there 
was some fear of the tent in the darkness which did not exist in day- 
