30 Strong, Habits of the Herring Gull. [jan. 



can be explained as easily. There both Ward ^ and I found a 

 promiscuous herding of juvenals without regard to precincts at 

 least when the birds were of good size. Furthermore, it does not 

 account for attacks upon juvenals by other juvenals. 



During the winter of 1912-3, a wild Herring Gull with a broken 

 wing was left in a basket at my door. It was evidently in the 

 second year and of the same age as the gulls which I brought from 

 Green Bay in 1911. After a few days, noticing that the injured 

 gull carried the wing free from the ground, I placed it with the 

 other two gulls. They at once approached in belligerent attitudes. 

 The newcomer faced them with its head up in dignified defiance, 

 and it was not attacked. Of course I do not know what encounters 

 may have occurred during my absence, but ever since its introduc- 

 tion this bird has been master at feeding time, even with a wry 

 wing. It is not larger, and it recently appeared much smaller as 

 a consequence of poor condition. 



A somewhat similar performance occurred when a young crow 

 which had developed enough to fly well, was placed in the gull 

 enclosure. The gulls advanced with threatening actions and even 

 pecked the crow on the head. The latter bird maintained an air 

 of unconcern giving little attention to the gulls who ceased trou- 

 bling it after a few moments. The crow became at least their equal 

 in bluffing, and I have recently seen it drive all three of the gulls 

 away from the food dish without a battle. The extent to which 

 the gulls submit to the crow, however, seems to vary inversely with 

 their hunger. 



Other birds may nest in apparent safety upon an island even 

 fairly densely populated with gulls. Spotted Sandpipers, Bronzed 

 Grackles, Song Sparrows, and other land birds were more or less 

 common nesters on the Strawberry Islands. I found Red-breasted 

 Mergansers nesting on all of the wooded islands occupied by gulls. 

 So far as I could see, no attention was paid to these birds by the 

 gulls. On the other hand, a large bird like the Great Blue Heron 

 seemed to be viewed with disfavor, and I did not find both occupy- 

 ing the same island. On one occasion, I saw a Great Blue Heron 

 pursued and much harassed by gulls. 



1 Ward, G. L. Notes of the Herring Gull and the Caspian Tern. op. cit. 



