190 Strong, Habits of the Herring Gull. [April 



I left the next morning at 7: 05. My blind was erected, and I was 

 inside ready for work at 7 : 45 when my companion left the tent and 

 went away in the motor boat that had brought us. Within ten 

 minutes, the gulls had settled down to normal activities, i. e. when 

 the boat had gone a fair distance from shore. The "challenge" 

 and mewing cries were made a number of times during the following 

 half hour. I also heard the quack of a Red-breasted Merganser 

 occasionally during this period, and a Bronzed Grackle flew near 

 the tent. At 8 : 25 a Spotted Sandpiper call was heard, also a very 

 young gull apparently calling for food. By 8 : 40 it was too dark 

 to see my writing, and the gulls were quieter. There was an out- 

 break of noise, however, at 8 : 43 which lasted for a minute or so. 

 I used a small pocket electric flash light, carefully concealed during 

 the night, to see my watch and to make notes. 



About 9 : 30 when the sunset glow was practically gone, a board 

 was knocked down from one end of my tent, making a noise which 

 alarmed the whole colony, and no birds came near my tent except 

 in flight, so far as I could determine, until daybreak. The moon 

 set about 1 : 00 a. m., and there was only starlight. I could not see 

 any birds but I could hear them flying about all night giving the 

 alarm cry, at intervals. The gulls were less noisy from 1:00 to 

 2 : 45. Small juvenals were heard calling occasionally through the 

 night. 



Shortly before 3 : 00 the first glow of approaching day appeared 

 in the east, and the gulls began to settle down near my tent. 

 They also became very noisy especially with the challenge cry. 

 At this time I noted a female Red-breasted Merganser playing in 

 the water not many feet away. Song Sparrows were shiging, and 

 Bronzed Grackles were active. A few minutes later a very small 

 Juvenal gull ran to the edge of my tent some fifty feet from where 

 I first saw it. It passed within five feet of two adults who gave it 

 no attention. The sun rose about 4:20, and at 4:25 two adult 

 gulls came within three feet of my tent where they remained about 

 a minute. They then flew away a short distance and returned to a 

 point about ten feet distant. No birds were seen on nests, as the 

 incubation season was over on this island. 



At 4 : 40, I noted gulls bathing, and at 5 : 00 I saw a very small 

 Juvenal paddling ashore. A fight occurred between two adults 



