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



2. Nest Construction. — I have seen no nest building operations 

 by gulls, and I had no evidence of any nest building being attempted 

 during my visits to the colonies. However, I found nests in early 

 July which seemed to have been constructed very recently. Her- 

 rick ^ speaks of "brand new nests" made in late July never to be 

 occupied. The nests, as has been stated by others, are usually 

 fairly bulky and of varying materials. Apparently grass, fine 

 weed-stems, and feathers are preferred as these occurred in the 

 majority of nests. Sometimes, however, nests were made largely 

 of strips of bark or of coarse weed stems. Other beach debris 

 may be used, especially the finer or softer materials. Bits of bark 

 and other coarse materials appear in the nest which is shown in 

 Plate VI. 



The nests are mostly saucer shaped (see Plate VII, Fig. 1). 

 They have been described in detail by Ward^ who also gives meas- 

 urements. Dutcher and Baily also give measurements in their 

 article. 



Although Ward's studies were made as late as the first "v^eek in 

 July, he ^ observed that " Incipient nest building was going on con- 

 tinuously." However, he saw no nest making that seemed likely 

 to be carried to completion. Herrick * made similar observations. 



A description of actual nest building is given by Ward in the 

 case of the so-called incipient nest building which he observed. 



As has already been stated in the introduction to this paper, a 

 great variety of locations may be chosen for the nest. In general, 

 it seems that uninhabited islands are preferred, where the nest may 

 be anywhere on the beach or back some rods from the open beach 

 in bushes, among tall herbaceous plants, or in grass, or upon rock 

 ledges. Often the shelter of a drift log is chosen (See Plate VII, 

 Fig. 2). Nests may be placed in trees under certain circumstances, 

 a point that will be discussed elsewhere in this paper. 



Much of the grass used in the nests is growing when pulled up by 

 the birds, according to Dutcher and Baily. They have also de- 

 scribed one nest as composed entirely of fresh green material. 



» Herrick, F. H. The Home Life of Wild Birds, p. 163. 



' Ward, H. L. Notes of the Herring Gull and the Caspian Tern. p. 116. 



• op. cit., p. 1.31. 



* Herrick, H. F. Home Life of Wild Birds. 



