Nov., 1900] BIRDS OF THE KOTZEBUE SOUND REGION. Ii 



mouth to the tip of the bill, cadmium orange; and the edge of the eyelids, vermil- 

 ion. In the Kowak delta in June, I obtained some unusual observations on the 

 nesting habits of this species. The lakes which the Short-billed Gulls mostly 

 frequented were usually surrounded by spruce trees, which in the delta are more 

 low and scrubby than further in the interior. I had in vain searched for the gulls' 

 nests on small bare islets in the lakes and on grassy points, such as the gulls with 

 which I was previously familiar would be likely to select for nesting sites. 

 Although I failed to find any sign of nests, still the birds by their uneasy actions, 

 intimated that there must be eggs or young somewhere. Finally on the i6th of 

 June I determined to discover the secret, and, armed with patience, selected a 

 secluded hiding place among some scrub spruces near a lake, yet where I had a 

 good view of it. Two pairs of Short-billed Gulls kept flying about above me for a 

 long time, occasionally alighting on the tops of the spruces surrounding the lake. 

 I kept track of each of the four gulls as best I could, and finally saw one settle 

 close down on the bush}^ top of a tree on the other side of the lake. Then it 

 dawned on me that the nests might be in trees. I took my bearings on the tree, 

 and started around the lake. Before I had nearly reached the vicinity, I was met 

 by the gulls, one of which began to dive at me again and again. It would fly high 

 above me and then swoop down past my head with a shrill, startling scream. Just 

 as the bird passed me, it would void a limy mass of foeces, and with such disagreeable 

 precision that I was soon streaked with white. On climbing the spruce, which 

 was about twelve feet tall, 1 discovered the nest. It was almost completely hidden 

 from below by the flat, bushy top of the spruce on which it was placed. The nest 

 was a shapeless mass of slender twigs and hay, nine inches across on top. There 

 was scarcely any depression and I found the shells of two of the eggs broken on 

 the ground beneath, probably pitched out by a severe wind of the day before. 

 The single egg secured was considerably incubated. After I left the nest the 

 gulls followed me a long ways, dashing down at me at intervals as before described. 

 I found several more nests by carefully examining the bushy-topped spruces 

 around lakes, but none contained eggs. Probably the jaegers which I saw in the 

 vicinity were responsible for this. One of the nests was only about seven feet 

 above the water on a leaning spruce at the edge of a pond. The rest of the nests 

 were from ten to twenty feet above the ground in spruces growing nearest the 

 water's edge. The single egg obtained of the Short-billed Gull is ovate and meas- 

 ures 2.37x1.74. It is light olive brown with spots of sepia, drab and bistre. 



La rjis ph iladclplua ( Ord) . 

 Bonaparte's Guli.. 



I saw several of this species on June 28. '98, flying about over a pond near 

 the coast about twenty miles north-east of Cape Prince of Wales. I also noted 

 (juite a number in a similar locality near Cape Lowenstern on July ist of the 

 same season. I did not again observe the species until its arrival was noted the 

 following spring on the Kowak near our winter camp. The first were seen on 

 May iSth when a dozen or more, three of which were secured, were seen cours- 

 ing back and forth over some open water around the margin of a lake in the 

 woods. They frequently alighted and remained for several minutes on the tops of 

 the spruces. Their notes were loud and rasping. When roosting on the trees they 



