^°'i9l4"'^^] Strong, Habits of the Hemng Gull. 49 



at 3 p. M. a rain squall came up. Dark clouds obscured the sun, 

 occasional flashings of lightning were seen and peals of thunder 

 sounded from time to time. The wind came in cold sharp gusts. 

 The shrill cries of the gulls were quickly subdued and a plaintive 

 mewing was the all-prevailing sound." 



On a few occasions, I heard a shrill and prolonged cry which was 

 distinguishable from the mew and yet apparently related to it in 

 its characteristics. This I have represented in my notes by the 

 syllable " kerr " with the e sounded as in her. It suggested to me a 

 noise often made by a contented hen in the chicken yard. I was 

 unable to get any clue to its significance. 



A high-pitched kee sound is often made when the bird is flying. 

 I have heard this given by gulls away from their breeding place. 

 It is of appreciable duration, and it descends slightly in pitch. 



Another performance which I noted only a few times involved a 

 rapid series of weak notes not unlike the peeps of a newly hatched 

 gull but with more of a whispering quality. This I represented as 

 follows: "peep-peep-peep-peep-peep, etc." The beak was opened 

 only slightly and shut with each note. It is possible that this is the 

 "run down" alarm cry which Herrick mentions, but its occurrence 

 W£ts not connected with any apparent alarm nor was it closely 

 preceded by alarm cries. The bird stood about in the position 

 shown in Plate X, Fig. 1 and was very near my tent. The noise 

 would not have been heard if the gull had been many feet away. 

 Perhaps a fair guess would be to suggest that we had here an inci- 

 pient alarm cry which did not involve a stimulus strong enough to 

 produce the full response. 



Young Herring Gulls give a cry for food which varies with age. 

 The newly hatched birds utter only weak peeps. As they grow 

 older, these develop into more insistent squealing notes which 

 may be made with a bowing motion for each. AYhen attacked or 

 in distress, juvenal gulls often make a sharp and still more incisive 

 squeal in which the notes are uttered more rapidly and more loudly. 

 I have already mentioned the attempts at a challenge cry which are 

 made by juvenals. 



{To be concluded.) 



