SOUTHEEN SILVER GULL. 
the islands, their nests being placed on the ground, for the most part in the 
little sheltered crannies of the rocks ; also in the open, some were placed on 
the tops of low thick bushes. The clutch was three, although in some 
instances there were two well set eggs in a nest. The eggs were in all stages 
of incubation from quite fresh to shells Just chipped ; one clutch of young 
was seen, the fluffy little grey squabs not being able to stand up, and when 
disturbed crawled into the grass at the edge of the nest. The nests were neat 
little round structures formed of pieces of grass and water weed placed round 
and forming a little hollow cup about 2J inches deep and 6 inches across. 
On one island the gulls had made their nests about the pelicans’ nesting 
grounds, and in some islands within reach of these large, cumbersome birds, 
but the guUs were not interfered with by the pelicans, and in return I noted 
that the gulls did not flock down and attack the larger birds’ eggs when 
they were unprotected, a thing that the guUs invariably do when they are 
not of the same rookery, it may be that they have a mutual understanding 
under this co-operative system. 
“ The guUs were ever on the alert to gather up any fish that were thrown 
up by the young pelicans, when they were disturbed by our approach. The 
gulls would pounce down in little clusters, and quarrel over these tit-bits 
until at last one more skilful than the rest would sail off on the wing with 
the trophy, several others flying after him in hot pursuit. 
“Although these birds were breeding in these enclosed islands, it is not 
generally thought that they will nest so early, their time on the sea rocks 
and islands being more in the summer time and early autumn, when the 
weather is calmer and more settled.” 
To this form I doubtfully attach the Coopers Creek bird as here noted. 
Mr. C. M. Lyons,* who collected this bird in the Lake Eyre District in 
South Australia, writes : “ These were fairly plentiful along all the rivers 
but especially so at the saltwater holes at Malkuni, on the Cooper. I was 
struck not so much with their distance inland — 300 miles from the head of 
Spencer Gulf — but with the fact that there is absolutely no connection 
between these rivers and the sea, as Lake Eyre into which they flow, is itself 
39 feet below sea-level.” 
Mr. Edwin Ashby tells me this species is common everywhere on the 
sea-coast of South Australia. It nests in large numbers at thq Spit, near 
Kingscote, Kangaroo Island. 
The type-bird described above was collected by Captain Samuel White, 
after whose wife I named the bird. 
* Emu, Vol. I., p. 135, 1902. 
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