34 



Wild Birds 



to the sea and drop it in the water. Upon her return, she 

 gathered up every fragment which might defile the nest and 

 bore it away. 



When encamped on a rock-bound shore, above the surge of 

 the waves, I have watched hour by hour and day after day the 



Fig. 14. Family of Great Herring Gulls on their "preserve," with one 

 chick a day old and two eggs. The male at the right has just dropped 

 from the perch on the log above ; the brooding mother immediately rose 

 from the nest and is seen sounding the scream of defiance, which is evi- 

 dently not a danger signal. The male then summoned the chick to the 

 feeding spot, which is at the side of the nest, and his mate retired to the 

 perch. 



comic and the tragic scenes in which the nurseries of the Great 

 Herring Gull abound, and from such vantage points have been 

 able to follow in every detail that remarkable polity which has 

 grown out of the communal life of these splendid sea fowl. 



It is difficult to describe the fascination which this method 

 of study affords the student of animal life. New discoveries 

 or unexpected sights wait on the minutes, for while there is a 



