508 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1914. 
ing season this bird is frequently to be seen near human habitations 
on the coast or following vessels. 
5. This gull is practically omnivorous in its habits, according to the 
observations of various writers. Animal food is preferred, but other 
food may be eaten if the bird is hungry enough. 
6. The herring gull does not dive for its food to any extent, and it 
never plunges verticaHy into the water, as terns do. 
7. The nests are made of such material as is available, but fine 
materials are preferred. 
8. The offsprmg are shaded by their parents on a hot day until 
they are strong enough to leave their nest and seek a shaded spot. 
9. The young are given food which is first regurgitated upon the 
ground. There may be promiscuous feeding of young birds by adults 
not their parents. 
10. Herring gulls which I have had in my possession since they 
were in the nestling-down plumage were less mature in plumage at 
two years than is indicated by Dwight for birds of that age. It is 
my judgment that herring gulls rarely breed before they are 3 
years old. All of the breeding herring gulls which I have seen were 
adults, so far as I could determine. 
11. It has been my experience that the young are at least 2 
months old before they begin to fly well. 
12. I have given especial attention to the voice of the herrmg 
gull. The most frequent sounds are the “challenge” and the 
“alarm” cry. <A ‘‘mewing’’ sound is fairly common. These cries 
all involve characteristic positions, especially the ‘challenge’ and 
‘““mew.” The ‘‘challenge’? seems to represent a variety of emo- 
tional states, but, m general, excitement. The young have a charac- 
teristic squeal or chatter, which is high pitched. It is used in calling 
for food or with a little modification when frightened. My captive 
gulls began to use what appeared to be a rudimentary ‘‘challenge”’ 
cry in September of their first year. 
13. Both vision and hearing are keen in the herring gull, as ap- 
pears to be the case with most birds. 
14. It has been my experience that the herring gull has nearly as 
good darkness vision as man at least. Durmg the breeding sea- 
son, or when food is best obtained at night, this bird is active at 
night. My captive gulls would eat, if very hungry, when there was 
barely light enough for me to distmguish their food. 
15. Food which is wet with solutions of either table salt or acids is 
rejected. My birds detected the presence of these solutions even 
when they were very weak to my taste. 
16. Meat is eaten much more readily when it is fresh. The ex- 
tent to which spoiled meat is tolerated varies directly with the degree 
of hunger. 
