336 On the Breeding-grounds of the Rosy Gull. 



a- dak, d-dak; klidw, klidw, eea, eea; kwa-kwa-kwa, pee-kwa, 

 kakee-a" are heard all the time in various modulations. 

 Near its eggs the Rosy Gull might appear somewhat foolish, 

 hut now all is changed. The female flies slowly just above 

 the ground or wet grass, or partly swims, partly flutters, over 

 the surface of the plant-covered water, settles down again, 

 looking here and there, gently uttering her " d-wa } d-ica," 

 and makes you feel certain that she is trying her utmost to 

 draw attention away from her young. But if you follow her, 

 and then suddenly stop and look back, you will often see 

 the little one hurrying from the place where you were just 

 searching ; while in any case you will find nothing at the 

 place where the female appeared so busy. One female 

 insisted upon fluttering about and sitting down so long at a 

 certain place on an island where the colony of Rosy Gulls 

 and Terns was situated that I carefully marked the spot 

 and examined it, but only a Tern's nest was there. I thought 

 at first that this was only an accidental occurrence, but imme- 

 diately afterwards the same female Rosy Gull tried to attract 

 my attention as persistently to another spot, lying still more 

 out of my way, and another Tern's nest was there. The 

 Terns understood these treacherous tactics quite well, and 

 at the last nest the female with angry screams engaged in a 

 short battle with the Gull. 



In another case a colony of some ten or twelve pairs, 

 where I took some five young, was deserted five or six hours 

 later, while Rosy Gulls with young were to be found on the 

 other side of the same lake, a kilometre distant. 



I may add that Rosy Gulls killed on the 6th and 7th of 

 July had their legs and feet less richly coloured than in 

 spring, when they were coral- or blood-red; they were 

 somewhat orange-red, and on the fore part of the tarsus 

 of most specimens even horny-yellowish. The stomachs 

 contained, as usual, only fragments of coleoptera, gnats, and 

 other insects. All were moulting their primaries ; the 9th 

 and 10th pairs, and in some specimens the 8th also, were 

 wanting. 



Mr. Rojnowsky, a young man working with the expedition 



