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AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



THE AMERICAN HERRING GULL 



There is an interesting colony of American Herring Gulls on a small 

 island on the southern coast of Nova Scotia, known as Seal Isand. 

 They are quite plentiful here in the breeding season, coming about the 

 middle of March and remaining until October or November. A few of 

 the young spend the winter here. They are a very dark brownish gray, 

 slightly marked or mottled with light. The third year they have the 

 plumage of an adult. 



Here their nests are mostly in trees but a few build on the ground. 

 When in these the nests are more stoutly constructed than when on the 

 ground. The nest in the picture was built of grass and sticks and was 

 taken on a cloudy day with two seconds exposure. 



One day in June I determined to get a pictureof a Gull on her nest, 

 so set out armed with camera and string. I selected a suitable nest, 

 focussed on it and covered my camera with moss and sticks. Then 

 making my string fast to the shutter I concealed myself under some 



Photo by Bernice Crowell. 



GULL SITTING ON NEST. 



