122 BULLETIN OF WISCONSIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. VOL. 4, NO. 4. 
promptly chased away by this bird, who ran rapidly at them with 
open beak and outspread wings. Perhaps half an hour after these 
efforts began I saw a portion of a fish appear in its mouth, and a 
moment later it was deposited on the ground, where the young 
promptly seized it. The fish appeared to be a herring about 7 or 8 
inches long and so mascerated that it readily fell apart. The 
adult assisted in breaking it up, and I saw it pick out the vertebral 
column, which it dropped with the other pieces. 
The young fed mostly from the ground, but occasionally 
snatched a piece from the bill of the adult. One of my photo- 
graphs shows a young bird taking food in this manner, see Fig. 1, 
Plate 2. After some minutes I noticed that regurgitation was 
apparently to be repeated, and in about a quarter of an hour the 
remains of another fish were deposited on the ground and disposed 
of in like manner. 
My notes at 7:30 p. M. read: "The young on my part of the 
island are bobbing up and down before adults begging their sup- 
pers. I can not see that there is any family relationship kept up. 
Most of the young are herded together ; the others seem to beg 
food indiscriminately. The bobbing of the young seems to induce 
a similar motion in the adult, and if its craw is full a fish must 
come — at last I have several times seen them disgorge fish when 
"challenging" and when there were no young near, and then re- 
swallow it." 
"4 :20 a. M. A perfect mob of young about one adult appear- 
ing to be on the point of regurgitating." 
From all appearances the identities of the young were so com- 
pletely lost that no adult knew its own offspring, and it was quite 
apparent that the young begged food from any adult. It also 
seemed to me that the adults were rather loath to render tribute 
in this manner, that it was a case of compulsion by a kind of 
hypnotism. The bobbing or pumping motion induced a similar 
motion in the adults. If a fish was in the upper part of the 
digestive tract the contortions probably gave it an upward motion, 
and they and the retchings continued until it was expelled. If 
the fish was farther along in its journey it probably was not inter- 
fered with by the contortions, which then soon ceased. 
In Fig. 3 of Plate 2 we have an attempt at regurgitation by 
one adult which had induced larcenous desires on the part of 
