196 Strong, Habits of the Herring Gull. [April 



tent. The nest was under observation for several hours, and what 

 appeared to be the owners were seen standing about the spot where 

 the nests had been located. Though the birds seemed to be dis- 

 turbed, they did not make any significant demonstrations of excite- 

 ment, and they did not attempt to brood the eggs. Such an experi- 

 ment should be started earlier in the season. 



XI. Migrations. 



After the breeding season is over, there seems to be a general 

 movement southward. Thus on and after August 25, 1913, for 

 instance, I saw a number of Herring Gulls, including both adults 

 and juvenals, at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. I do not know how 

 much earlier they may have been in the vicinity. Each day that 

 I saw them they were in flocks with Laughing Gull adults and 

 juvenals. So far as I know. Herring Gulls do not now breed south 

 of Maine on the Atlantic coast. These birds had probably mi- 

 grated from a point at least as far north as Maine. 



" Gull Dick" as reported by Mackay ^ was in the habit of return- 

 ing year after year to the region of the Brenton Reef Light ship in 

 Narragansett Bay during early October. This bird left for the 

 north in early April. In a report to Dutcher and Baily - it was 

 stated that about 800 Herring Gulls arrived at Great Duck Island 

 off the coast of Maine on March 12, and their numbers increased 

 steadily until the 20th of May. Herring Gull adults and juvenals 

 appear about Chicago in considerable numbers during the winter, 

 and they are fairly common during a large part of April. The 

 spring migration and the beginning of the breeding season appar- 

 ently occur considerably later on Lake Michigan than on the At- 

 lantic coast, a fact probably connected with the late clearing of the 

 ice on the upper Great Lakes. 



On September 21, 1911, my captive gulls, then juvenals, became 

 very restless, and they ate very little food for seven days. On the 

 24th, I spent half an hour in my gull yard. The food that I had 

 placed there on the previous day had not been eaten, and the gulls 



'Auk, IX, 1892, pp. 226-228. 

 »Auk, XX, 1903, pp. 417-431. 



