OCT. 1906. 
HERRING GULL AND CASPIAN TERN. 
123 
another which drove back the waiting young and stood ready to 
snatch the fish should it appear. 
The adults seemed to mildly object to feeding the young by 
trying to turn away and avoid the hynotic (?) influence, and I 
imagine that there was a certain degree of relief expressed in 
their actions when the inducement of regurgitation failed. It is 
hard to conceive that there should be anything pleasurable or 
voluntary in retching, gagging and vomiting for the benefit of 
an unknown young. It would be interesting to know whether this 
act is confined to one sex. The sexes were quite unrecognizable 
as they occurred on the island, but from the serial manner in 
which young went from one adult to another it is probable that no 
distinction in sex is made. 
Both last year and this, when we visted the island, there were 
many dead half-grown young. Last year we were told that some 
summer visitors had gone to the island and wantonly killed birds ; 
but some that were wounded and were put out of their misery by 
our party were injured about their heads in an inexplicable man- 
ner that caused me to doubt that they had been victims of tourists. 
This season I had opportunity to see the manner of death of 
these birds, but could deduct no satisfactory explanation of the 
exciting cause. When first visiting the island, and still some 
hundreds of yards away from it, the young began to take to the 
water and swim away, so that when we stepped ashore nearly all 
had left. After the tent was set up and my companions rowed 
away, the return began, and in a few minutes the flock was swim- 
ming about close to the shore of the island. Several adults 
approached its flank and one began to deliver savage blows with 
its beak on the head of a young one, then seized it by the occiput 
and held its head under water, after which it pulled the half 
insensible victim about by its bill and legs. The young one ulti- 
mately reached the beach in a half insensible state and was lost 
to sight among the others. Several times I saw adults attack 
young in the water, but in all other instances the young escaped 
with little punishment. One that was hard pressed managed to 
reach a partially submerged rock, from which vantage point it 
put up such a savage fight as to quite disconcert and put to flight 
its persecutor. Again I saw young driven in shore onto the beach, 
and every adult near which it came would rush savagely at it, 
