OCT. 1906. 
HERRING GULL AND CASPIAN TERN. 
121 
deposit a fish at my feet, a peace offering, I thought, to secure 
immunity from molestation, a tribute that they pay to the man-o'- 
war bird. These gulls were not, I take it, actuated by the same 
motive, -but merely wished to rid themselves ot ballast so as to 
get into fighting trim. 
When this gull colony was visited this year most of the young 
were well advanced, nearly able to fly. (See Fig. 2, Plate 1.) 
They mostly kept together in a large flock, which I estimated 
to contain three or four hundred birds. It was too compact 
and kept too far away from my observation tent to allow of 
counting. Very likely it was larger, as it contained prac- 
tically all the young of the colony. At one time I counted 
360 adults upon the island, and estimated as many more 
in the air and upon the water. Seven hundred adults, if evenly 
divided as to sex, and all breeding, should have, barring accidents, 
about 875 young, and consequently my estimate of young was 
very likely too conservative. These young spent much of their 
time on the water, where, judging from the small number that 
■sought to be fed by the adults, they probably obtained food for 
themselves. 
The half dozen instances of adults feeding them that came un- 
der my observation were practically identical, varying only slightly 
in detail. The following is from my notes made on the spot while 
viewing the process : The young comes in front of an adult and 
with a bowing and courtesying movement puts up its bill to that of 
the old one, continuing the bowing for several minutes, resting 
between times. Sometimes it took hold of the adult's bill with 
its own, at other times merely touched bills. When the adult 
opened its mouth the young put its bill within. Failing to get 
indications of food, it went to another adult, and repeated the 
operation, passing in succession to several, until at length it 
seemed to get some favorable signs, for it remained by this one, 
alternately begging and resting. After some time it was apparent 
to me that the adult was striving to regurgitate. It would open 
its mouth, stretch its neck nearly horizontally, then bring its head 
down to the ground. After a moment it will close its bill, turn its 
head to one side and look at the ground over which it had been 
straining, as though expecting to find something there. Other 
gulls were from time to time attracted to the scene, but were 
