^°^i^4^^] Strong, Habits of the Herring Gull. 183 



some extent by very hungry gulls, fresh food is evidently preferred. 

 My captive gulls never touch spoiled liver, for instance, if not very 

 hungry, though fresh liver is taken promptly at such a time. Liver 

 which has just begun to spoil, if eaten, is not taken with the same 

 greediness, and a smaller quantity is swallowed. The first piece of 

 tainted meat may be taken eagerly and sometimes partly swallowed 

 only to be rejected. One or more pieces may be swallowed in haste 

 if the birds are exceedingly hungry, before signs of disgust appear. 

 Other pieces are handled with care on the same occasion, if touched 

 at all. Bread which has been soaked in water that has contained 

 such food as fresh raw liver, is eaten more eagerly than when plain 

 water is used to moisten the bread. 



It is a common practice of my captive gulls to carry some of 

 their food to their swimming tank where they play with it in the 

 water. A piece of liver is held in the beak and moved about under 

 water with quick jerks of the head or it is dropped in the water to be 

 seized before it has sunk far. This performance happens more 

 frequently when the food has been lying in a chemical solution or 

 when it has accumulated considerable dirt as a consequence of 

 having been dragged on the ground. Such rinsing of the food does 

 not occur at every feeding but is usual. The extent to which the 

 food is thus treated also depends on the degree of hunger. When 

 very hungry, food is bolted in a few seconds without much playing 

 with it except sometimes for the last piece taken if hunger has been 

 satisfied by the amount of food placed before the birds. 



The behavior just described suggests some observations made by 

 Anthony ^ with another species of gull. " I was one day watching 

 some Western Gulls, a few yards from me on a wharf, when a large 

 piece of salted fish was thrown out from an adjacent boat house. 

 It fairly glistened with a thick incrustation of salt, and I was some- 

 what curious to see if the gulls would eat food so highly seasoned. 

 No sooner had it fallen than it was seized upon by a gull and as 

 quickly swallowed; but from the surprised actions of the bird it 

 was evidently not to his liking; no sooner had it reached the stomach 

 than it was ordered out again. Dropping the fish on the wharf, 

 the bird eyed it for a moment Then picking up the fish it flew 



» op. cit. , p. 135. 



