The objectives of this exercise are:
1) To give you more experience in observing and describing the behavior of gulls.
2) To give you practice in applying the "levels of analysis" to analyzing behavior.
3) To encourage you to develop hypotheses about behavior that truly are alternatives, and to think through critical predictions of each alternative hypothesis.
4) To empower you to use the "strong inference" approach to testing your hypotheses.
Questionfor your consideration:
Why do you supposse gulls lay colored eggs with multicolored spots (instead of, for example, pure white eggs)?
Develop several alternative hypotheses, critical predictions from each one, and then devise strong inference tests to distinguish among your hypotheses.
Email or talk with your instructors with questions you might have about the exercise or the paper you've read.