Description
THE HERRING GULL. Col. Goss in his “Birds of Kansas,” writes as follows of the Herring Gull: “In the month of June, 1880, I found the birds nesting in large communities on the little island adjacent to Grand Manan; many were nesting in spruce tree tops from twenty to forty feet from the ground. It was an odd sight to see them on their nests or perched upon a limb, chattering and scolding as approached. “In the trees I had no difficulty in finding full sets of their eggs, as the egg collectors rarely take the trouble to climb, but on the rocks I was unable to find an egg within reach, the ‘eggers’ going daily over the rocks. I was told by several that they yearly robbed the birds, taking, however, but nine eggs from a nest, as they found that whenever they took a greater number, the birds so robbed would forsake their nests, or, as they expressed it, cease to lay, and that in order to prevent an over-collection they invariably drop near the nest a little stone or pebble for every egg taken.” The young Gulls grow rapidly. They do not leave their nesting grounds until able to fly, though, half-grown birds are sometimes seen on the water that by fright or accident have fallen. The nests are composed of grass and moss. Some of them are large and elaborately made, while others are merely shallow depressions with a slight lining. Three eggs are usually laid, which vary from bluish-white to a deep yellowish brown, spotted and blotched with brown of different shades. In many cases where the Herring Gull has suffered persecution, it has been known to depart from its usual habit of nesting on the open seashore.
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