LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN GULLS AND TERNS. 165 



no very definite idea of their numbers, but there were certainly a 

 mighty host of them; to say that there were thousands would be 

 putting it mildly, for their nests were as thick as they could be over 

 a large area. Assuming that there were from 15 to 20 nests in an 

 area 10 yards square, or in 100 square yards, which is certainly a 

 conservative estimate, I figured that there were at least from 15,000 

 to 20,000 nests in the colony, meaning a population of from 30,000 

 to 40,000 birds. 



As we stood wondering and admiring them, they grew more con- 

 fident and gradually settled down on their nests all around us, and 

 sometimes within 10 yards of us. They seemed less afraid of us than 

 of the cameras, for they would not alight on their nests very near 

 the latter. We got the best results with the Reflex cameras. They 

 had many a little squabble among themselves ; they seemed to be dis- 

 puting the ownership of the nests, fighting over it in the air, or if 

 one alighted on the wrong nest a quarrel would arise with the right- 

 ful owner ; but as a rule each bird returned to its own nest with re- 

 markable accuracy, and it is a wonder that mistakes were not more 

 often made amid such a vast confusion of nests and birds. They 

 frequently alighted in the little open pond holes among the reeds, 

 where they floated lightly on the surface, swimming about in graceful 

 elegance. Many of them alighted on the lake out beyond the reeds, 

 where they swam about with the eared grebes, scaups, and canvas- 

 backs. There was quite a large colony of the grebes nesting among 

 the reeds with the gulls. 



The gulls' nests began about 100 yards from shore and extended 

 uniformly over all the reedy area to the outer edge, where they were, 

 if anything, more abundant than elsewhere. It seems as if a nest had 

 been placed in every available spot, and it was difficult to walk with- 

 out stepping on or overturning them. They were in the open places 

 and in the thick places as well. The nests were generally large float- 

 ing masses of dead reeds, but sometimes they were well built up 

 among the green standing reeds and well secured. In the latter case 

 the nests were smaller. They varied greatly in size and manner of 

 construction. A few that I measured, representing a fair average, 

 were from 12 to 30 inches in diameter, and were built up from 4 to 

 8 inches above the water; the inner cavity, which was but slightly 

 hollowed, was usually about 5 inches across. The nests on the outer 

 ed<*e of the reeds seemed to have been occupied first, as it was here 

 that we found most of the young. Practically all of the eggs col- 

 lected here were heavly incubated, whereas in the nests farther inland 

 we found many fresh eggs and incomplete sets, but no young. Three 

 eggs were the usual number, though complete sets of two were very 

 common. We found in all four sets of four, but in these some of the 



