Vol. II, Pt. I] GIFFORD— BIRDS OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS 35 



Creagrus furcatus: Swallow-tailed Gull 



Albemarle, Brattle, Champion, Charles, Chatham, Cowley, 

 Crossman, Culpepper, Dalrymple, Daphne, Delano, Enderby, 

 Gordon, Guy Fawkes, Hood, Indefatigable, islet off northeast 

 James, James, Kicker, Narborough, Seymour, Tower, and 

 Wenman islands. 



This fine gull has been observed in the archipelago during 

 every month of the year, and is found commonly about the 

 small tufaceous islands and some of the high sea-cliffs of the 

 large islands. None were observed about Elizabeth Bay, 

 Tagus Cove, or Banks Bay, Albemarle Island, nor on east and 

 north Narborough in March and April. It is a bird of pow- 

 erful flight, often being seen many miles from land. The 

 farthest south it was observed was about 160 miles south- 

 west of Albemarle on June 9, 1906, and the farthest east was 

 about 150 miles east of Chatham on September 22, 1905. No 

 examples were met with north of the islands. 



The single tgg was usually laid in a slight depression lined 

 with bits of stone. When disturbed the gulls generally flew 

 off, leaving their eggs and young to the mercy of the intruder. 

 In one case, however, a parent remained on the nest and al- 

 lowed itself to be petted, not offering to bite. In many in- 

 stances, when a bird was caught, its main effort was to escape 

 rather than to defend itself. The young generally snapped 

 their bills threateningly when molested. 



The Swallow-tailed Gull is known to nest in the Galapagos 

 Islands during eight months^ of the year, as follows : On 

 Brattle in October; on Culpepper in July;" on Hood in Janu- 

 ary, February, June, Jul}'-, and October;^ on Tower in Sep- 

 tember and December;* and on Wenman in July,^ August,^ 

 and December.^ The Academy's series of eggs was taken 

 on Hood in February and June, and on Tower in September. 



The eggs observed on Tower Island in the middle of Sep- 

 tember, 1906, were quite fresh, although a newly-hatched 



^On page 190, volume 6, of Novitates Zoologicae, Messrs. Rothschild and Hartert 

 state that this species was "found breeding * * * in October on Tower, and in 

 December on Hood Island." This is undoubtedly a mistake, as the Webster-Harris 

 Expedition visited Tower in December and Hood in October. See pp. 99, 103, 124. 

 135. 



2Nov. Zool., V. 6, p. 190. 



^Ibid., pp. 99, 127. 



*Ibid., pp. 104, 135. 



^Ibid., V. 6, p. 190; v. 9, pp. 412, 413. , 



^Ibid., V. 6, p. 90. 



»Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., v. 5, p. 238. 



