GENERAL NOTES. 
Habits of the Herring Gull.—In Mr. G. H. Mackay’s very interesting 
article on the Herring Gull, in the July number of‘The Auk’, he states that 
it is with some hesitation that he regards them as gregarious, for they ap¬ 
parently only come together when there is some particular reason for so 
doing, and not because they like to. My own impression was just the 
reverse of this, but I must admit that my observations have been made but 
casually, and that I have not observed the Gulls with the care that Mr, 
Mackay has devoted to the subject. I should have said that Gulls scattered 
in search of food at high water, but came together sociably at other times. 
At Plymouth, Mass., it used to be no uncommon sight to see the greater 
part of the Gulls in the neighborhood gathered in one vast flock on the 
outer side of the long sand spit, known as the ‘Beach.’ This, if my mem¬ 
ory serves me aright, usually took place some little time after low water. 
The Gulls were not feeding, but resting and preening their feathers, and, 
unless disturbed by man, they would remain until driven away by the ad¬ 
vancing tide. 
At high water the Gulls were widely scattered, searching for floating 
food, and as the flats in the harbor were left bare by' the receding tide the 
Gulls would gather here and there in small flocks looking for food. At 
nightfall the Gulls seemed to fly in one direction.— northward,— asifthey 
roosted together, and when low water came at night, they might be heard 
at intervals calling from the flats. At Mingan and Percfi the Herring Gull 
breeds in colonies, and here, too, their querulous cries might be heard at 
all times throughout the night. 
The term •‘warv and observing bird” is applicable to most Gulls, even 
where thev are not especially sought after. In Valparaiso harbor, where 
the rules of the port prohibit the firing of guns, Lams dominicanus was 
extremely tame, feeding about the vessels and frequently alighting on 
their jib-booms. Just without the harbor they were shy and vigilant. 
Here, too, the greater part of the Gulls departed toward nightfall in one 
direction, apparently for the purpose of roosting together, sometimes leav¬ 
ing in flocks of fifty or more. — F. A. Lucas, Washington, D. C. 
Auk IX. Oct. 1892. b. 388-89 
