40 Strong, Habits of the Herring Gull. [jjjjj, 



proach of other adults to their young, but data of this sort are very 

 meagre. These observations and those quoted in this paper from 

 Herrick and Hornaday, however, make it probable that the young 

 are guarded for at least a considerable time after hatching by their 

 parents. 



I have been unable to obtain data concerning the relationships 

 of the parents to the young when the latter are learning to take care 

 of and feed themselves. Adults and young roam about together 

 in flocks for weeks or months after the young are able to fly. 



5. General Behavior of the juvenal gulls. — The behavior of the 

 young just after hatching has been described by Ward.^ 



According to Dutcher and Baily ^ " The instinct to hide seems to 

 be developed within an hour or two after hatching, or so soon as 

 the young bird is strong enough to walk." My own experience is 

 that the instinct to hide is not always developed thus early. On 

 July 6, 1907, at Gull Island near Marquette, Michigan, in Lake 

 Superior, I found a nest containing one single nestling which stood 

 up pertly in its nest and did not give the usual indications of fear 

 (see Plate VIII, Fig. 1). The plumage of this bird was dry, and it 

 was able to stand. On the same day, another nest was observed 

 with two young and an egg in which the occupant was breaking 

 its way out (see Plate VIII, Fig. 2). In this case the two nestlings 

 showed very great fear and left their nest which was located on a 

 small ledge of rock, squealing pitifully. They showed other signs 

 of distress and began to pant. Mrs. Strong held an umbrella over 

 the birds to protect them from the intense sunlight that prevailed. 

 Nevertheless, before I had gone through the process of mounting a 

 camera on a tripod and making one exposure, one of these birds 

 died. Presumably the combination of fear and heat was respon- 

 sible. The dying bird appears in the picture. 



I agree with Dutcher and Baily that young gulls show the hiding 

 instinct as soon as they are able to run about freely. During the 

 pandemonium that prevails among the adults when one approaches 

 the nesting place of a colony of gulls, the larger young not yet able 

 to fly may be observed with the aid of strong glasses running about 



' op cit.. p. 120. 

 'op cit., p. 422. 



