Ornithology of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. 303 
the island that this strange habit had been acquired by the 
Gulls within his recollection, and in consequence of the 
annoyances to which they were subjected in the constant 
robbery of their nests. It is worthy of noting here, that all 
Gulls, without any exceptions that I am aware of, invariably 
nest upon the ground. Even the Herring Gull is not known 
to make nests in trees elsewhere, and in Europe, where it is 
as common as in this country, it is not known ever to have 
thus deviated from its natural habits. 
The account given by Mr. Audubon has been severely 
commented upon in several foreign publications, and several 
writers have treated his narrative as fictitious, or at least 
exaggerated. It is on this account that I have thought it 
worth referring to, as I have it in my power to confirm its 
truth and correctness in every respect. Not only in White- 
head island were the Herring Gulls found breeding in high 
trees, but also in a group within a few miles called the Two 
Islands, the same change of habit was noticed to even a 
much greater extent. On the last islands the proprietor 
annually derives a handsome sum of money from the sale of 
their eggs, which are gathered by the members of his family. 
The eges when fresh are, in my estimation, a great delicacy. 
Severa] nests, which I examined, I found to be constructed 
with wonderful nicety, when we regard the clumsy web-feet 
and large bills with which all these materials are gathered 
and woven into shape. They are constructed of coarse rceds 
and grass, lined with somewhat finer kinds. They use no 
sticks, at least they did not in any nests that I saw. They are 
quite deep, soft, and warm. In one which had been thrown 
down to me for examination from the height of over thirty feet, 
supposed to be empty, I found a freshly-deposited egg, un- 
broken, which I have still in my possession. "This fact will 
confirm the aecounts of the size and thickness of the nest and 
the labor bestowed in its construction by birds so ill-adapted by 
nature to such work, but driven to it by the persecutions and 
robberies inflicted upon them by man. If any are still in- 
