126 BULLETIN 113, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



the main portion of the island, which was thickly covered with their 

 nests. We could form no accurate idea of their number, as we did 

 not have time to count the nests ; but to say that there were at least 

 1,000 pairs of each species would be a conservative statement. The 

 nests of the ring-billed gulls were chiefly on the higher portion of 

 the island, while those of the California gulls were mostly around 

 the shores and on a bare, flat point, though both species were some- 

 what intermingled where the two colonies came together. I should 

 say that about half of the eggs had hatched, for we found hundreds 

 of the downy young hiding among the scanty vegetation and saw 

 them swimming out from the shores in large numbers. This island 

 was visited again by the other members of our party July 18-21, 

 1906, when they found the bird population of the little island in- 

 creased by a nesting colony of 14 pairs of American white pelicans 

 and 4 pairs of double-crested cormorants. 



The California gulls' nests in this colony were well made of dead 

 weeds, rubbish, straw, and feathers. Most of them were on the bare 

 dry ground on the open shores, but many of them were actually in 

 the water; probably these latter were originally built on the dry 

 beach, but recent heavy rains had raised the level of the lake and 

 surrounded them with water; fortunately they had been built high 

 enough to keep the eggs and young dry. The nests varied greatly 

 in size ; average nests measured from 14 to 18 inches in diameter. The 

 inner cavity was usually 7 inches wide by 2 inches deep; the outer 

 edges of the nests were built up from 2 to 5 inches above the ground. 

 One extra large nest measured 26 inches in diameter and 7 inches 

 high. 



Mr. W. L. Finley (1907) found an interesting colony of California 

 and ring-billed gulls on a tule island in Lower Klamath Lake, Oregon, 

 in May, 1905 ; I quote from his account of it as follows : 



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. Prom 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 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 youngsters crouched low in their tracks and others scudded 

 off in all directions. 



Although there were at least 500 pairs of gulls nesting so close together, yet 

 housekeeping was in no sense a communal matter. The nests were within 2 

 or 3 feet of each other, but each pair of gulls had its own home spot, and 

 the invasion of that place by any other gull was the challenge for a fight 



