Illustrations of the Method 55 



community. Forty minutes later, when the storm of this ex- 

 citement had blown over, one of the Gulls came to its nest, 

 and the strong smell of herring called attention to several 

 families of chicks which were being fed close to my tent. Never- 

 theless, for two and a half hours the old Gulls stormed about 

 their nest. With a loud explosive squeal one would suddenly 

 descend like a bolt, striking the tent with both feet and with 

 great force. Finally the male, closely followed by his mate, 

 walked up boldly to the nest, and with piercing squeals called 

 out his chicks and fed them on regurgitated fish. The nest 

 was then inspected and the excreta carefully removed. Even 

 then their fear had not wholly abated, for their mandibles kept 

 wagging, as with mechanical repetition they uttered their less 

 incisive alarm wak-wak-wak! wak-wak! wak-wak! This grad- 

 ually ceased, but, like the pendulum of a clock running down, 

 the mandibles continued to work without emitting any sound. 



I have camped beside the nests and preserves of five other 

 families of Gulls with both eggs and chicks, but on the first day 

 have usually found the old birds especially wary. On the 

 second or third day, however, they would usually come to the 

 perch or to the nest in from one to ten minutes. In order to 

 save time in such cases, it is best to place the tent in position 

 the day before observations begin. 



