742 THE HEERMANN GULL. 
their own primitive crafts, and so devoted are they to the sport of log-driving 
that you would think it must afford them a means of livelihood. If the log is 
large enough a dozen birds will stand in line drifting, drifting,—whither, no 
one knows nor cares, 
The fact is, Heermann’s Gull is an inveterate loafer and sycophant, a 
professional idler. Of southern blood (we have just learned that he is bred 
on islands off the coast of Mexico) he comes north in June only to float and 
loaf and dream thruout the remainder of the season. Visit the “Bird Rocks” of 
Rosario Straits early in July, and you will find a colony of Glaucous-wings 
distraught with family cares and wheeling to and fro in wild concern at your 
presence, while upon a rocky knob at one side, a white-washed club room, sit 
half a thousand Heermanns, impassive, haughty, silent. If you press inquiry 
they suddenly take to wing and fill the air with low-pitched mellow cries of 
strange quality and sweetness, as they make off to some distant rendezvous. 
And go where you will, at what season, the Heermann Gull is guiltless of 
local attachments—in the North. 
While occasionally seen during migrations in the passage of the upper 
Sound, this bird avoids the tide-flats and harbors, keeping to the more open 
water, or else feeding and resting among the kelp beds. It is fond of the 
smaller fish, and earns its rests by agility here. As Anthony says: “When 
herring are swimming in compact schools near the surface both Heermann’s 
and Western Gulls secure them by approaching the school from behind and 
flying near the surface of the water, making repeated quick dips into the 
school. The fish seek safety in the depths the instant anything occurs to 
alarm them, but soon return to the surface, so that the gulls by stalking them 
from the rear are enabled to approach quite near before the fish are alarmed. 
As soon as the limits of the school have been passed, the gull, rising higher in 
the air, returns by a wide circuit and again passes over the school from the rear. 
As the fish all swim in one direction, in a compact mass, these tactics afford 
the gulls a decided advantage which seems to be thoroly understood.” 
While these birds abound in the lower Sound region, it is significant that 
we saw none in passing from Neah Bay to Destruction Island in June, 1907, 
and saw them only once upon that coast in the cruise of 1906; viz., at Split 
Rock.on July oth. Of their leisurely return in the fall, Cooper wrote: “Early 
in September large flocks of this gull begin to enter Shoalwater bay with the 
terns and pelicans. ‘They remain about two months before retiring southward, 
fishing for the herrings which come at that season. Tho quite rapid in flight, 
and well able to supply themselves with food, they have a curious habit of 
“sponging” on the pelicans and large gulls. Often a long train of pelicans is 
seen, as the tide is rising, slowly wandering round the bay, each one attended 
by one or more of these gulls which are usually some distance behind. When- 
ever a pelican awkwardly plunges into the water and emerges with its enor- 
