The Western Gulls 
latitude. The nests are 
composed ot dried grass¬ 
es and weeds plucked by 
the birds, roots and all; 
and these become quite 
substantial structures if 
the materials are con¬ 
venient. Ledges, cran¬ 
nies, grassy hillsides, and 
the exposed summits of 
the rocks, are alike util¬ 
ized for nesting sites; 
while occasionally a bird 
ventures down so close 
to the tide-line as to lose 
her eggs in time of storm. 
Chicks are brought off 
by the third week in 
May, or by the middle of 
June, according to sea¬ 
son, if unmolested. If 
the first set is removed, 
however, the birds will 
prepare a second, con¬ 
sisting almost invariably 
of two eggs, and these 
are deposited as likely 
as not in the same nest 
as the former set. Depo¬ 
sition occurs at inter¬ 
vals of two or three days. 
I recall visiting a 
smaller rock well up the 
coast where young birds, 
from infants to those half grown, were in hiding everywhere. The danger 
sign had, of course, been passed around, and not a youngster on the 
island but froze in his tracks, no matter where he happened to be. It 
was pathetic to find, as I did now and then, babes soaking heroically in 
the filthy green pools left in hollows of the rock by ancient rains, rather 
than attract attention by scrambling out. One youngster had evidently 
been nibbling playfully at a bit of driftwood cast high up, for I found 
him with the stick between his mandibles, as motionless as a Pompeian 
Taken on Anacapa Island. 
Photo by Donald R. Dickey 
NEST AT BASE OF LEPTOSYNE GIGANTEA 
1391 
