° 1914 J Strong, Habits of the Herring Gull. 45 



made whenever possible, with difficulties which will be appreciated 

 by all observers who have tried to make descriptions of animal 

 sounds. 



Though I tried to notice anything that might have any bearing 

 on the significance of the sounds made by the gulls, I had the 

 following points especially in view: (1) the circumstances under 

 which each sound was made, (2) any possible evidence of associated 

 emotions, (3) the attention given by other individuals and espe- 

 cially by the young to these sounds. As all of the cries occupy 

 only a few seconds at the most, it is necessary when in the field to 

 be ready to give instant attention the instant the sound is heard. 

 Here again we see the advantage of the presence of a considerable 

 number of individuals at such close range as they can be at a breed- 

 ing place. Some notes are not made frequently by a single indi- 

 vidual, and the chances of hearing them are multiplied many times 

 when the observer is in the midst of a fairly large breeding colony. 

 On the other hand, of course, a large number of gulls in a limited 

 area make a bedlam of noise which is often confusing. With care- 

 ful concentration on single sounds or performances it is possible to 

 reduce the confusion of sound to a working basis. 



2. The alarm cry. — In my experience, whenever wild gulls are 

 disturbed at their breeding places, at least by man, they become 

 very noisy. Though other sounds are made, the characteristic 

 and usual cry is what has been called by Herrick,^ Ward and others 

 the "alarm cry." This consists of sharp and short notes in doub- 

 lets or triplets which are produced with great variations in quality 

 and in pitch. I was unable to determine whether these variations 

 are produced by different individuals. They are striking and 

 always to be noted when a colony of breeding gulls is disturbed. 



After trying various syllables to represent these sounds, I finally 

 decided that the following is as satisfactory as anything I could 

 devise, kek'-kek-kek, with an accent on the first syllable, the e 

 being sounded as in deck. Often only two instead of three of these 

 sounds are made in a group. These triplets or doublets are uttered 

 in rapid succession as the bird flies about in the general panic. 



Mackay^ described the alarm cry with the syllables "cack, 



1 Herrick, F. H. The Home Life of Wild Birds. 



2 op. cit., p. 226. 



