The Herring Gull 
115 
Safety 
Tactics 
a photograph of a gull-home on one of these peaceful islands, which, 
unless guarded, would be ravaged in summer by egg-hunters and other 
disturbers. 
The nest of this bird is usually placed on the ground or among rocks. 
Sometimes it may be discovered in beds of dry seaweed cast up by the 
sea. Any dry, soft, vegetable matter is collected into 
a scanty nest — mostly rim. The eggs, usually three, N Eggs nd 
show a beautiful assortment of markings, being 
spotted and blotched with a wide range of yellow, brown and blackish 
tints, on a surface-color ranging from grayish-green to olive-brown. 
On at least two of the Maine rookeries some of the gulls construct 
rather bulky nests in evergreen trees. These vary from six to twenty- 
five feet from the ground, and it is locally reported that the young in such 
nests never leave the trees until quite able to fly. Those young that are 
hatched in nests on the ground, however, appear to leave just as soon as 
their legs are strong enough to support them. In walking through one 
of these rookeries the young will spring up from their hiding and run 
before you like so many little dirty sheep, for their immature coats are 
brownish gray. They are expert in hiding. Almost any place serves 
them for a temporary shelter. They are well con- 
cealed when they crouch under clumps of grass, or 
by the side of a boulder, or even among the pebbles 
on the beach. As long as they remain motionless in these situations it 
requires a very sharp eye to detect them. 
While visiting No-Man’s-Land Island, Maine, in July, 1911, the writer 
was much pained to witness many unkind acts on the part of the old gulls. 
When one lighted on the ground one or more young would invariably start 
toward it, evidently hoping for food and comfort. It is generally believed 
that gulls confine their attention to their own young, and are not given to 
supplying food to others. It would seem, too, that the little ones are 
unable to distinguish their parents from other adults, hence they approach 
any newcomer with that sublime confidence known only to youth, and it is 
not uncommon to see the old gulls immediately attack and drive them 
away. Frequently I saw them pursuing the young, striking at them un- 
mercifully. One half-grown bird I found totally blind, evidently from 
blows received in this way, and several others were 
blind in one eye. Many had raw and bleeding heads, 
and here and there on the island were found the bodies 
of others that had succumbed to the abuse of old birds. This is probably 
one of Nature’s ways for keeping the race from becoming too numerous, 
but from the human standpoint it certainly seems a cruel and wanton 
waste of bird-life. 
Herring Gulls seem much attached to the rocky islets that have been 
their nesting-ground for many generations, and will return year after 
year to the same spot, regardless of much persecution. They will also 
linger in the neighborhood of their eggs and young, and often will 
Cruel to 
the Young 
