LIFE-HISTORY OF THE HERRING-GULL. 423 



On the 23rd, after some trouble in breaking a passage through 

 the ice, the islet wa3 reached in the skiff, which I had taken out 

 to my camp on a large island by dog-train. On reaching the 

 island I spent some time hidden in a shelter which had been 

 previously erected, but the Gulls left and sat out on the ice, and 

 did not return. The nest-hollows were little different from what 

 they were on the 20th. 



On April 25th, a mild day, Double-crested Cormorants (Phala- 

 crocorax auritus), which breed on the islet, stayed the night for 

 the first ,time, though they had visited it on various occasions 

 previously. Probably it was the arrival of the Cormorants for 

 the summer that perturbed the Gulls ; whatever the cause, they 

 were greatly excited, and left the place after dark in a body ; 

 the concourse, keeping up a continual calling, settled on the 

 water. They kept up their calling most of the night, rising from 

 the water now and again, only to drop down at a fresh place. 

 For several evenings after this they were noted coming in in 

 flocks at dusk, no doubt having been away foraging, though there 

 were always a considerable number of Gulls at the islet ; they 

 kept up a continuous clamour, after their arrival in the evenings, 

 up till 11 p.m., and how much later I cannot say. 



On April 29th some of the nests had been nearly completed, 

 and on May 2nd many of them appeared to be ready for eggs. 

 On May 4th the Gulls were watched for some time from the 

 blind. No eggs had yet been laid. The birds were standing by 

 their empty nests in pairs. On the 6th they were again standing 

 or lying down near their nests, basking in the sun and preening 

 their feathers, or dozing with their heads under their scapulars. 

 One pair was noted in coitu. There were no eggs as yet. I saw 

 many pairs indulging in a curious performance ; they stood face 

 to face or side by side, and then jerked their heads upwards 

 rather quickly until their beaks pointed towards the sky, then 

 resuming the normal pose, repeating this time after time in 

 quick succession. The motion was made alternately or in unison I 

 with each uplift of the head a low not unmusical call was uttered. 

 On this and other occasions it was noted that the upward lift of 

 the head varied in extent ; sometimes the head and beak were 

 only slightly uptilted, at others the head was jerked up until the 

 beak pointed directly upwards. I saw one pair standing together 



