LARIDyE - THE GULLS AND TERNS — LARUS. 



23'J 



(il the watpr, in doing which it immerses only its head and neck. Major Wedderburn 

 iiuMitions the taking of a number of examples in Hermnda, Feb. 23, 1848. 



Richardson states that this species — called by him argcntoulcs — breeds on ^fel- 

 villt^ Peninsula. He describes the eggs as having an oil-green color, and being marked 

 with spots and blotches of blackish brown and subdued purplish gray. This bird is 

 noted at Hudson's liay for robbing the nets set in the fresh-water lakes. 



In the summers of IHoO and 1851, spending several weeks on CJrand Menan, in 

 till' liay of Fundy — a locality visited by Audubon in May, 1833 — I found this 

 species more or less abundant, and breeding on the ground on most of the unin- 

 luibited islands, and on the largest one breeding on the high, inaccessible elift's, or 

 v(ny generally constructing nests high up in tall and almost inaccessible spruce-tri!es. 

 Audubon was informed by Mr. Frankland, who lived on Whitehead — a part of Grand 

 Menan, but insulated at high tide — that the remarkable habit of these birds of con- 

 stnuting their nests in trees had been acquired by them within his recollection ; and 

 that when he first settled there — many years before — these birds all built their 

 nests on the moss of the open ground. They were induced thus to conceal their eggs 

 and young in consequence of the depredations committed uiion their nests ; and they 

 i,'i'a(Uuilly began to put these on the trees in the thickest part of the woods. At the 

 time 1 visited these islands an attempt had been made to arrest or limit these depre- 

 dations ; and persons were prohibited by the projirietors from taking any eggs after 

 till' 20th of June. The sparseness of the population, however, and the distance of 

 most of these resorts from the oversight of those interested in enforcing these rules, 

 leiidered them almost inoperative. 



A nest of one of this species, built near the top of a tall spruce, and at least 

 sixty feet above the ground, was brought to me with its contents. It was composed 

 ciitiicly of long, fine, flexible grasses, evidently gathered, when green, from the salt 

 iiKirslu's, and carefully woven into a circular fabric. Taking into consideration the 

 cliunsy wel)-feet and the hardly less unwieldy bill of the bird, it was certainly a 

 remarkable structure. The materials were strongly interwoven and compacted, and 

 the nest could be handled without coming to jneces ; indeed it had been thrown to 

 me from a height of fifty or sixty feet, and remained uninjured. It contained three 

 eggs, nearly fresh, whose large size indicated that the parent bird was very old. 

 The nest measured about eighteen iuehes in diameter, its sides being three or four 

 inches thick, and its cavity at the centre at least four inches deep. The bird remained 

 11)1011 lier eggs until she had been nearly reached, and flew over our heads, screaming, 

 when we were despoiling her of her treasures. 



The nests found upon the ground varied exceedingly, some being merely a shal- 

 low depression with a slight lining, and others large, and elaborately biiilt of mosses 

 and line bent. The eggs were never more than three number ; and when there 

 were less, they were almost invariably fresh. The Guuj were shy; and without 

 exception flew from their nests on the ground on our approach while we were still 

 at a distance from them. Several years later I found these Gulls very abundant on 

 all the rocky islands and among the high clifTs of the upper parts of the l?ay of 

 Fuiuly, on the Isle of Hant, at Cape Split, and at rorsboro. In almost all cases they 

 were in inaccessible places, where they must have been in nearly complete security. 

 Ill such situations and in their nests in trees the young remain until they can fly. 

 Those that hatch on the ground leave their nests to hide in the crevices of rocks 

 and under any other convenient shelter, and resort to the water long before they 

 can tly. 



^Ir. R. Kennicott found this species breeding on the southern shores of Great 



