418 DuTCHER AND Baily, Habits of the Herritig Gull. f 



Auk 

 Oct. 



topography of Great Duck Island will answer for all of the island 

 colonies, as in the main they greatly resemble each other. Great 

 Duck Island is sitiiated in 44° 9' N. Lat. and 68° 15' W. Lon., 

 being an outlying island seven miles south of Mount Desert 

 Island, 



The citizens of Maine have reason to be proud of the gull 

 homes in their State, and it is a civic obligation to care for and 

 preserve them. One of the first duties of the patriotic citizen is 

 to carefully conserve the natural objects in his locality ; any one 

 who would destroy them, especially for commercial purposes, is 

 lacking in that uplifting sentiment that develops, in man or woman 

 a respect for the rights of others, and a love of country and fire- 

 side. The writer who commands and wields the most facile pen 

 cannot fully describe the life or beauty of one of the great breeding 

 homes of these gulls, nor can the most accurate photograph convey 

 to the reader more than a faint picture of the bright blue sky, the 

 sparkling sea, the graceful motion of the birds circling overhead ; 

 nor can it add the roar of the surf on the rocky shore, nor the 

 weird and angry cries and screams of the anxious gulls. The 

 colony at Great Duck Island is without doubt one of the largest 

 now existing in the United States. 



The shore of the island is bold and rocky, and, as the tides rise 

 and fall about thirteen feet, at low water great tracts of kelp rock- 

 weed are vmcovered, among which the gulls find large quantities 

 of food, such as Crustacea and other marine life. At every low 

 tide that occurs during daylight, numbers of gulls may be seen 

 gleaning in the kelp beds, or gathered in groups sunning them- 

 selves or preening their feathers. 



At high water the upper ledges of rocks are used for assembling 

 and resting places. The surface of the island is somewhat rolling, 

 and in the open is covered with grass and weeds, of not very 

 luxuriant growth, as the soil seems to be very poor, being com- 

 posed of decayed wood and sand. The trees are principally 

 spruce and fir, but none are of very large size. On the southern 

 end of the island nearly all the trees have been cut and the dead 

 tops and branches, together with many large trunks, have been 

 left among the stumps, making a tangle very difficult to penetrate. 



At the extreme southern point of the island the United States 



