112 BULLETIN 113, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Seton (1908) says of the herring gull in the region of the Great 

 Slave Lake that it "will pursue wounded game and often follows 

 the hunter to share in the kill." Mackay (1892) says that herring 

 gulls will eat dead ducks with avidity, cleaning off the flesh and 

 rejecting the skin and feathers as if it had been done with a sharp 

 knife. He has known them to carry a dead red-breasted merganser 

 " for nearly a quarter of a mile by stages of about 25 yards, holding 

 it by the neck, in order to eat it in security." He also states that 

 they watch mergansers and rush at them when they appear with a 

 fish in the mouth, and he believes that they often secure the fish. 



As has been stated above, insects of all kinds have been found in 

 the stomachs of young birds. Coues (1877) speaks of finding the 

 remains of a hare in a gull's stomach, and Eifrig (1905) seeds and 

 berries. 



The herring gull under some circumstances robs nests of the eggs 

 and young, but not to such an extent as some other gulls. Mr. 

 Manly Hardy reports finding a herring gull nesting within 8 or 

 10 feet of three red-»breasted mergansers' nests and close by the nests 

 of spotted sandpipers and common terns, none of which was in the 

 least disturbed. 



Herring gulls eject from their mouths the harder particles of 

 food, such as fishbones and crab's claws s in the form of loosely com- 

 pacted pellets; some 2 inches in length. These may be seen about 

 their resting places. I have sometimes found a few feathers in 

 these pellets, probably plucked from the bird's own breasts. 



The fresh-water ponds and reservoirs along the coast are fre- 

 quently visited by this splendid gull, and it is the common idea that 

 they resort to these to drink fresh water ; but it is to be remembered 

 that in some places and times they stay continuously near salt water, 

 and that Mr. Brewster's captive Jrittiwake refused fresh water, but 

 drank salt water. In the interior on the fresh-water lakes and ponds 

 where the herring gull breeds, and in similar regions where it spends 

 the winter, it is evident that the bird must drink fresh water. 

 Anthony (1906) says: 



That gulls drink sea water, and can thrive on it, is a fact not to be ques- 

 tioned ; but I am of the opinion that when fresh water can be obtained with- 

 out too much trouble they will drink it in preference. 



Strong (1914) found that his captive gulls showed an aversion foi 

 salted food, and washed their bills and drank fresh water after- 

 wards. 



Behavior. — The flight of the herring gull varies greatly under dif- 

 ferent circumstances. At times, especially in calm weather, the 

 birds flap along slowly with broad, slow wing beats like those of 

 herons or cormorants. In this manner they may fly close to the 

 water or high in the air, and they are usually massed in loose flocks. 



