OCT. 1906. 
HERRING GULL AND CASPIAN TERN. 
129 
The great feet of the gulls silhouetted on the roof of my tent 
as they stood upon it led me to experiment, and I was surprised 
to find that I could tickle them with the point of a lead pencil or 
even push it hard against them without apparently attracting the 
attention of the gull. Then I found that even when one was 
perched upon the pole I could strike sharp blows with a stone upon 
it without causing alarm. Not only must the jar from these blows 
have been violent, but it was also accompanied by a sharp noise. 
Carrying my experiments farther, I found that I could tramp 
about heavily on the loose gravel, could cough, whistle or sing 
without apparently causing the slightest uneasiness to gulls on top 
of the tent or upon the ground within a yard or two of its wall. 
I also found that I could smoke and that when a cloud of smoke 
issued from one of my loop holes and drifted full in the face of 
a gull a few feet away it appeared to produce no effect. A quick 
movement of the face or of a hand at one of these openings was 
sufficient to cause a stampede, which, however, seemed to be for- 
gotten almost immediately. The black front of my reflecting 
camera with its sunken lense did not seem to disturb them and 
the considerable noise of its swinging mirror accompanied by the 
the swish of the shutter when an exposure was made produced no 
panic, although it sometimes attracted attention. It therefore 
seemed as if sight, and particularly that of a rapid motion, was 
about all that disturbed the gulls, and that they were remarkably 
obtuse to evidences of my presence that would have required little 
intelligence to appreciate. 
The noises of the colony were continuous and varied. I fancy 
that I am safe in saying that there was not one second of the 
twenty-seven hours' observation but that one or more gulls was 
calling, and frequently there were several hundred screaming at 
once. Some times one hears sounds like the lowing of cattle, 
except that the pitch is higher, like the bleating of sheep, the 
mewing or snarling of cats, the clucking of hens, the crowing of 
cocks, hoarse human chuckles, and sounds for which I could find 
no comparisons. The first day that I was in the tent, at 3 p. m. 
a rain squall came up. Dark clouds obscured the sun, occasional 
flashings of lightning were seen and peals of thunder sounded from 
time to time. The wind came in cold sharp gusts. The shrill cries 
of the gulls were quickly subdued and a plaintive mewing was the 
