PAe/aoc! of S‘^ e W ” £ 
feeding over rafts of drifting sea weeds, when its diet was found to consist 
of maggots, probably Coleopa frigida, a fly that breeds at high water mark 
in d*-* vine ..seaweeds (Alatp, and 7nztp.ra'\ 
The Food of Several Maine Water-Birds. — The following notes are the 
result of a number of actual observations on the food of birds, that for the 
greater part have been examined under conditions which did not admit 
of the preservation of the stomach contents for expert examination. 
Therefore they are here offered as a contribution to a subject both impor¬ 
tant and interesting. 
In the diet of the Herring Gull ( Larus argentatus) I have noticed sea 
cucumbers ( Pentacta frondosa) disgorged by the side of a nest, and during 
the winter of 1907-08, one of these birds was seen repeatedly dropping a 
frozen Pentacta on Old Orchard beach. Previous to freezing a hole had 
been torn in its side, evidently by the beak of a gull or crow. 
The shell bodies of the beach snail (Polinices heros), with operculum 
attached, have been found by the sides of nests. The broken and empty 
shells are common at resting places of this gull. This mollusk is a well 
known and abundant enemy of the common clam (Mya arenaria). On 
the Maine coast it is eaten by modern man to a very limited extent, and in 
certain sections, and at certain times it is used to a great extent for fish 
bait. Yet its destruction of the clam, so extensively used in commerce, 
offsets its own small use, and the habit of the Gull in feeding upon it is an 
economic service, to be considered in the summary of its feeding habits. 
At the No-mans-land colony, in summer, I once saw nearly a pint of 
cockles (Purpura lappillus) disgorged by the side of a nest; and at the 
Brothers, Englishman’s Bay, a half pint of the crustacean, Thysanopoda 
norvegica, disgorged by the side of a nest. 
Larus Philadelphia, besides its diet of fish, and garbage, has been found 
„ _,_uuimg wie wmuer oi ryui—1)8, Had 
its gullet filled with large specimens of Crammarus locusta, the common 
sea flea of our shores. Another taken in 1908 was similarly filled with 
young crabs (Cancer irroratus), in both instances to the exclusion of other 
food. 
In the stomachs of Canada Geese, and Brant (Branta bernicla glauco- 
gastra) I have found rhizomes of Zostera, and in the Canada Goose, sea let¬ 
tuce (Ulva lactuca). 
In the stomach of the Common Bittern, besides frogs, I have seen the 
field mouse (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and the large Water Beetle (Disty- 
cus). 
In the stomach of a Dowitcher (Macrohamphus griseus), maggots, prob¬ 
ably Coleopa frigida, a beach fly which abounds on our coast, breeding in 
decaying sea weeds at or above high tide mark. 
Arquatella maritima is abundant on the outermost ledges and islands 
east of Cape Small. I have .found its diet to consist commonly of small 
blue mussels (Mytilus edulis ) and barnacles (Balanus balanoides) , the same 
diet, and same resort, as that of the Turnstone (Arenaria interpres morin- 
ella ).— Arthur H. Norton, Portland, Maine. 
Auk ae, 03r- 3 % 4 > 0 . 
•c.. 
C ra 3Zofe~ - 4 , . 
1. Larus argentatus. Herring Gull. — On September 25, 1907, 
three of these birds visited the Notch. Two of them remained in the air 
while the third alighted for a few moments on Saco Lake, a tiny sheet of 
water. Another example occurred on September 25, 1908. It remained 
the greater part of the forenoon. 
Auk 23, Oct-1909 »p» 
no 
