Fig. 17. Imperfect nest of Great Herring Gull, illustrating the beginning of a new breeding cycle, when too late to be finished. Chips, grass, and roots have been brought to the new site. Great Duck Island, Maine, July 20.
Of the seventy-seven nests which had seen service in the season, eight only contained addled eggs. It was certain that none of the new nests, with or without eggs, could ever come to anything, and probably most were never finished. They are made to be abandoned, sooner or later, with the rise of stronger instincts. A new cycle is begun, but
Fig. 18. Nest of Gull, illustrating the same tendency as that shown in Fig. 17, but where the old nest was "repaired," or used as a site for the new one. The body of a dead chick was worked into this nest, and the old bird was incubating an addled egg. July 22.
