THE HERRING GULL. 



UST how many species of Gulls 

 there are has not yet been 

 determined, but the habits 

 and locations of about twenty- 

 six species have been described. The 

 American Herring Gull is found 

 throughout North America, nesting 

 from Maine northward, and westward 

 throughout the interior on the large 

 inland waters, and occasionally on the 

 Pacific ; south in the winter to Cuba 

 and lower California. This Gull is a 

 common bird throughout its range, 

 particularly coast-wise. 



Col. Goss in his " Birds of Kansas," 

 writes as follows of the Herring Gull : 



"In the month of June, 1880, I 

 found the birds nesting in large com- 

 munities on the little island adjacent 

 to Grand Manan ; many were nesting 

 in spruce tree tops from twenty to 

 forty feet from the ground. It was an 

 odd sight to see them on their nests 

 or perched upon a limb, chattering 

 and scolding as approached. 



" In the trees I had no difficulty in 

 finding full sets of their eggs, as the 

 egg collectors rarely take the trouble 

 to climb, but on the rocks I was un- 

 able to find an egg within reach, the 

 ' eggers ' going daily over the rocks. 

 I was told by several that they yearly 

 robbed the birds, taking, however, but 

 nine eggs from a nest, as they found 

 that whenever they took a greater 

 number, the birds so robbed would 

 forsake their nests, or, as they ex- 

 pressed it, cease to lay, and that in 

 order to prevent an over-collection they 

 invariably drop near the nest a little 

 stone or pebble for every egg taken." 



The young Gulls grow rapidly. 

 They do not leave their nesting 

 grounds until able to fly, though half- 

 grown birds are sometimes seen on the 

 water that by fright or accident have 

 fallen. The nests are composed of 

 grass and moss. Some of them are 

 large and elaborately made, while 



others are merely shallow depressions 

 with a slight lining. Three eggs are 

 usually laid, which vary from bluish- 

 white to a deep yellowish brown, 

 spotted and blotched with brown of 

 difierent shades. In many cases where 

 the Herring Gull has suffered persecu- 

 tion, it has been known to depart from 

 its usual habit of nesting on the open 

 seashore. 



It is a pleasure to watch a flock of 

 Gulls riding buoyantly upon the water. 

 They do not dive, as many suppose, 

 but only immerse the head and neck. 

 They are omnivorous and greedy 

 eaters ; " scavengers of the beach, and 

 in the harbors to be seen boldly alight- 

 ing upon the masts and flying about 

 the vessels, picking up the refuse mat- 

 ter as soon as it is cast overboard, and 

 often following the steamers from 

 thirty to forty miles from the land, 

 and sometimes much farther. They 

 are ever upon the alert, with a quick 

 eye that notices every floating object 

 or disturbance of the water, and as they 

 herald with screams the appearance of 

 the Herring or other small fishes that 

 often swim in schools at the surface of 

 the water, they prove an unerring pilot 

 to the fishermen who hastily follow 

 with their lines and nets, for they 

 know that beneath and following the 

 valuable catch in sight are the larger 

 fishes that are so intent upon taking 

 the little ones in out of the wet as 

 largely to forget their cunning, and 

 thus make their capture an easy one. 



Very large flocks of Gulls, at times 

 appearing many hundreds, are seen on 

 Lake Michigan. We recently saw in 

 the vicinity of Milwaukee a flock of 

 what we considered to be many 

 thousands of these birds, flying swiftly, 

 mounting up, and falling, as if to 

 catch themselves, in wide circles, the 

 sun causing their wings and sides to 

 glisten like burnished silver. 



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