° 1914 ] Strong, Habits of the Herring Gull. 187 



this extreme buoyancy which also involves a large pneumatisation 

 of the skeleton, explains the fact that gulls do not often dive to the 

 extent of completely immersing their bodies. 



When bathing, the Herring Gull dips its bill and often the entire 

 head into the water with rapid bowing movements. At the same 

 time the wings are flapped vigorously and water is splashed over 

 the entire body. The performance is more or less the same whether 

 the bird is floating on water or standing in shallow water. 



During the colder weather of the winter, my captive gulls are 

 deprived of all opportunities for bathing, as their tank is emptied. 

 They become very dirty, consequently, in a city like Chicago. 

 With the coming of spring, the tank is refilled and a regular orgy 

 of bathing follows. Each bath lasts for several minutes and is fol- 

 lowed by feather dressing and partial drying of the plumage. Then 

 another bath is taken. This may continue for an hour or more. 

 In the course of two or three days the plumage becomes quite clean. 



On July 29, 1911, I found a young Herring Gull at one of the 

 Strawberry Islands in well developed plumage and apparently old 

 enough to fly. It was sitting quietly on the ground at the base of a 

 tree at least fifty feet from water. On examination, I found the 

 bird to be very much emaciated ; it was too weak to make effective 

 efforts to escape, in fact it could not stand upright. I took the 

 gull to the water and gave it a chance to drink. It was evidently 

 very thirsty, and drank eagerly. After taking what water it 

 wished, the bird took a bath going through such movements as its 

 limited strength and my grasp would allow. During the following 

 week, I gave this bird frequent opportunities to bathe always hold- 

 ing it in my hands, and the bath was always taken without hesita- 

 tion. The principal features were a plunging of the head under 

 water with a quick removal, followed by a shake of the head which 

 splashed water over the body. This bird ate ravenously but it was 

 too weak to stand up for any length of time, and died in about two 

 weeks. An autopsy was performed by a pathologist who was 

 unable to find any other explanation for its death than the starva- 

 tion the bird had experienced before I found it. 



During the bathing performance the gull appears to drink more 

 or less water, l)ut it is difficult to say how much is taken. In hot 

 weather there appears to be considerable water drinking by brood- 



