122 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVIII 
planes to enable the birds to come to a stop. In addition to this, it was also 
observed that the bird would occasionally “back water” when alighting. 
The herons, when about to rise into the air, would first squat and then 
usually, without further ceremony, jump into the air and continue in motion 
with the long steady strokes of their wings. The pelicans likewise had the 
habit of squatting and then jumping into the air when starting from the ground. 
They would often squat and bob up several times when the observer approached 
as if they were undecided as to whether or not it was necessary for them to 
go through the exertion of launching and flying off with their corpulent 
avoirdupois. As a rule, when one or more would start to fly, the whole or 
the greater part of the colony would follow the example, and the air currents 
from their powerful wings could be felt fifteen rods away. The roar from such 
concerted flight could be heard for a mile or more. 
Figure 35 shows a characteristic scene portraying how the pelicans and 
gulls refuse to associate in the same flock. The pelicans are occupying 
exclusively the end of the spit, while the gulls occupy the part next to the 
island. The Caspian Terns and the gulls, however, were usually seen in the 
same flocks. 
There is an impression current in bird literature and among bird people 
that requires some modification in view of the observations of our party ; that 
is, relative to the disposition of the gull. His general reputation is as being 
a mild and peaceful bird and never aggressive'. Our observations not only 
did not confirm this but were decidedly to the contrary. I have previously 
made mention of the piratical raids upon the nests of the Caspian Terns. In 
addition to this we saw hundreds of instances of the wanton destruction of 
pelican’s eggs and young by these marauders. Figure 39 shows only a small 
part of the destruction of pelican eggs by gulls. The eggs were apparently 
not taken for food, as the shells were not broken in a way that indicated that 
the contents had been eaten, and many w T ere merely pecked in one or several 
places. Many young pelicans had been killed by being pecked and many of 
the living were badly lacerated about the head, back and tail. Mr. Treganza 
states that he has observed that on some occasions the pelicans had posted 
guards over their section of the colony before going on a foraging expedi- 
tion. This is thought to be done to protect the nests and contents from the 
incursions of the gulls. The gulls around the main part of their colony were 
continually fighting among themselves and, upon close observation, a great 
many were seen to have down in their beaks that was as strong evidence as 
the proverbial wool between the dog’s teeth. Tt can, however, be said to their 
credit that but two cases were reported of gulls molesting nests of their own 
species. 
We saw no indications that the gulls ever disturbed any of the nests or 
eggs or young of the Great Blue Heron. Whether or not this was due to the 
fact that the gulls feel no antipathy against this species or whether it was in 
response to the modern slogan of “safety first”, I am unable to state. How- 
ever. in view of the forbidding aspect of the heron and the fact that there are 
usually several adult representatives in and about the colony, I am person- 
ally inclined to the latter view. 
A day had been spent on Hat Island, and on the evening of the second 
day our provisions, sleeping equipment and specimens of eggs and birds were 
packed and our boat was headed for Egg Island some thirty miles to the east. 
