M 



THE CONDOR 



Vol. IX 



the gull, but unless in some way we could hide near at hand this was sinii)ly im- 

 possible, for the whole colony of birds went frantic whenever we a])proached their 

 nests and young. To overcome this difficulty, we had brought a blind, specially 

 built for the purpose. We had secured an old wagon umbrella of dark-green color. 

 Then taking a long piece of green canvas, w^e had sewed hooks along the edge 

 about eighteen inches apart, and when these were hooked in at the end of each rib, 

 we had the sides hanging down all around, making a covered tent, in which we 

 could hide with our cameras. 



The next morning we pulled down below the gull colony and landed under 

 cover of the high tules. Here we erected the blind and got underneath with our 

 cameras. Then, holding up the umbrella, we began slowdy edging toward the 

 rookery. It is hard to saj^ just what the gulls thought this queer-looking object 

 was; they could see no legs, no head, but still it moved. Whereas the day before 

 they had gone wild at our approach, now they paid little attention to the green 

 thing that blended fairly well with the green tules, even tho it gradually 

 approached closer and closer. After maneuvering for almost an hour, we reached 





#■ 





COLONY OF RING-BILLED AND CALIFORNIA GULLS ON TULE ISLAND 

 IN LOWER KLAMATH LAKE 



the edge of the colony and planted our blind by driving the extension handle of the 

 umbrella into the mud. Some of the parents regarded the green tent with suspicion, 

 backing off or rising to circle around where they could get a full view. But it was 

 not long before the blind seemed to pass as part of the scenery and we were sur- 

 rounded on all sides by the snow-plumaged birds coming and going, and paying 

 little or no attention to us as we peered out or pointed our cameras thru the loop- 

 holes we cut in the canvas. 



