92 Union Bay 



I never heard any calls by it or by the gulls which passed. 

 I have noticed that, although the glaucous-winged gulls do 

 much flocking and nesting in colonies, they are not con- 

 cerned with the welfare of their kind as the crows appear to 

 be. In full possession of its strength, this bird would have 

 been a member of the gull fraternity, but in its present condi- 

 tion it apparently had no standing and, if badly injured, it 

 was barely possible that it might have been destroyed by 

 fellow gulls as they have been known to destroy wounded 

 birds of other kinds. But whatever the reason, it continued 

 its lonesome course along the shore, and in only the small 

 section which it considered sufficient to maintain it. I suspect 

 there was little difficulty in finding food. There were seeds- 

 concentrated pellets of nourishment— of the loosestrife and 

 other plants, there were cattails whose stalks crawled with 

 insects, and there was much succulent vegetation. The per- 

 petual industry of the bird indicated that its food habits were 

 flexible enough to accept the items which were plentiful. 



One day, some weeks after, I saw the gull in the water 

 but did not get near it. The following week end, I ap- 

 proached it slowly so as not to put it into unnecessary flight. 

 It had progressed more rapidly than I thought— perhaps it 

 had made trial flights on days when I had not been there, 

 or possibly my presence gave it the incentive to rely again 

 on the injured wing, for it rose easily and slowly. I last saw it 

 on its way to join the gulls resting at the north end of the bay. 

 The dogs which visited the marsh might have made an 

 interesting news story. They ran and romped and did not 

 hesitate to barge through the muddy wet places so that their 

 owners must have been quite unhappy when the dogs arrived 

 home with their coats wet and matted. Their energy seemed 

 like that of small boys, and, to many, their continual visits 

 appeared pleasing and innocent. But the canoehouse mana- 

 ger had this idea about them: dogs, and particularly hunting 

 dogs, should not be running through such places at any time, 



