Evening star., 1905-11-04
GULLS ON A MAINE ISLAND,
Great Breeding Grounds Of the Birds
on No Mans Land.
From the Portland Advertiser.

on NO man, s Land.
From the Portland Advertiser.
No Mans Land boasts of the densesr coll
ony of herring gulls on the Maine coast.
There may be more birds on Great Duck
Island. off Mount Desert, but they are not
SO thickly gathered In limited area.
No Mans Land is some twelve acres In
extent and 1t did not seem that there was q
square yard of 1t which did not hold one or
more birds. One side of the island is sparse
ly covered with turf and the other is given
up to growth of stunted black spruce
trees. Gulls. white and dark roasted on
every rock, covering also all the grassland
Up in the trees big white birds had alighted
on the bare branches one above the other
forming a series of terraces OF living and
glistening forms. AS We drew near we saw
several of the great black backed gulls Sit
ting with the others, merely visitors IL
seemed. for these big fellows had bred fur
ther north and were now coming south to
spend the winter on the outer shores along
the coast. Capt. Young steered for Rum
guzzle Cove, the elegant name applied to a
wonderful natural inlet, depression of the
high. rocky formation of the island. nearly
cutting Il In two
Now the wonder of the scene open4d be-
fore us. We were right in the midst of the
gulls, which shrfeked and barked over our
heads eyed us with suspicion from the
cliffs on either hand. and fed in our path
The young gulis were there in thousands
being easily recognized by their brown
plumage, while the adult birds were a CLOS
sy white. Capt. Young put the difference
before us In his pithy way when he re-
marked: You see the dark ones-well sir
every one of them was an egg this spring.
Now we began to thread our way among
the gulls up the steep cleft In the rocks and
our real experience began. Young guIls
hardly able to fly, fed before us and tum-
pleo down among the rocks with much
weak tapping of wings
Packing themselves up they perched at a
safe distance and regarded us with no Ioat
OF favor. over our heads swarmed more
than thousand adult gulls, every white
beak sending forth discordant cry On
our left there was another thousand and on
our right as many more, pcrched on the
lodges. on the grass and In the tops of the
spruce trees. Down at our feet In the
wafer. was bunch OF birds that must have
numbered over thousand. and as many
more in sight in the water on the other side
of the island. Besides these the further
ends of the rocks were still covered with
guIls out OF observation and as yet resting
easily, though as we progressed over the
island they constantly rose over us in a
threatening cloud.
How many gulls there on the ISL
and?' / asked Capt. Young. and he replied
confidently: Well. sir, we estimate them
at 10000" This was surprising and /
looked around me with critical eye. But
l could not contradict him, for that seemed
to be fair computation. counted a sec
tion of the swimming flocks and judged
that there were two or three thousaGd in
the water, while the birds were as thick
over our heads as a swarm of mosquitoes
There may be no more than six thousand
birds, and there may be as many as twelve
thousand; no one can say. for II is impossi-
BILE to count them.
Capt Young's estimate of 1000. there
fore. will have to stand undisputed, at
least until more accurate Information can
be obtained We saw not single nest. but
plenty of places where they had been built.
Capt Young says the birds tear their nests
to pieces as soon they done with
them. but they are nothing but a collection
of sticks and soft material placed on the
edges and grass ground. and doubtless the
young birds during their growth scatter
what Is of no further use to them. On the
islands further east gulls often build their
nests In trees, but we saw none Of that kind
here.
There is no breeding place for herring
gulls nearer to Portland, and doubtless
many of the gulls seen around Portland
harbor spring and fall belong to No Mans
Land and to Capt. Young, who fondly
claims ownership of them all. no matter
where they are found. And the way he pro-
tects them Is good to behold. Mind you,
ne owns the island on which they breed.
and he is the warden selected by Mr..
they are not molested. Armed with this
authority and being proprietor OF their
nesting ground, he has an immense advan-
tage over the iawless hunter OF eggs or
pesrly plumage. His big sign on the most
conspicuous part of the island warns of
any intruder. in language that cannot be
misunderstood. Woe to the gunner who
disregards that warning, for The strong
hand of the law is likely to lay hold Of
him.