Jan., 1907 



AMONG THE GULLS ON KLAMATH LAKE 



13 



skirmishing about the country to pick up a living in the fields, following the plow 

 all day long as blackbirds do, and fighting at the farmer's heels for angle worms. 

 I have seen others rummage daily about pig-pens and gorge on the offal thrown 

 out from the slaughter-houses. If any bird is useful to man, the gull is certainly 

 of economic importance as a scavenger. 



It was several days before we found the colony of nesting gulls, California 

 and ring-billed(Zrt;7/5 calif or nicus -aw^ L. de/azvareiisis), on Lower Klamath L,ake. 

 We were led to the place by watching the course of the small flocks that spread 

 out over the lake in the morning and returned homeward about dusk each evening. 

 From a full mile away, with our field glass, we could see the gulls rising and 

 circling over the low-lying islands. As we rowed nearer, the birds came out to 



CALIFORNIA AND RING-BILLED GULLS OVER ROOKERY ON LOWER KLAMATH 

 LAKE, OREGON; 283 BIRDS IN THIS VIEW 



meet us, cackling excitedly at the dubious-looking craft approaching so near their 

 homes. They swam about on all sides, curiously following in the wake of our 

 boat. Cormorants flapped along over the surface, pelicans rose heavily from the 

 water, and gulls and terns got thicker and thicker, until when the nose of the boat 

 pushed in at the edge of the island,, the air seemed completely filled with a crying, 

 chaotic swarm. We stepped out among the reeds, but had to tread cautiously to 

 keep from breaking eggs or killing young birds. Many 3'oungsters crouched low 

 in their tracks and others scudded off in all directions. Our presence caused such 

 confusion among old and young that we jumped in the boat again and pulled away 

 for fifty yards. 



We wanted the opportunity of making an intimate studj^ of the home life of 



