20 BULLETIN: MUSEUM OF COMPAEATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



Larus occidentalis Aud. 



Western Gull. 



Larus occidentalis Belding, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., V. 1883, 545 (Cape Region), 549 

 (San Jose). Bryant, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 2d ser., II. 1889, 251 (Cape 

 Region). 



The Western Gidl is resident along the Gulf coast of the Peninsula and is very 

 common in places, especially in the Bay of La Paz, in winter. Mr. Frazar found 

 a breeding colony of about twenty-five pairs on a small rocky island a little to 

 the westward of Carmen Island. Most of the nests were only just begun, and 

 but two contained eggs, one set, however, comprising the full complement of 

 three. This was on March 13, a date about two months earlier than that at 

 which the first eggs are usually taken on the Farallon Islands near San Fran- 

 cisco. The next day another breeding ground was discovered on the northern 

 end of the island of Moutserrat. Here some fifty pairs had congregated. Few 

 of their nests were finished and only eight contained eggs, the number in each 

 set varying from one to three. At both of the places just mentioned, the nests, 

 •which were made of seaweed, were built at the foot of the clifi's just above high- 

 water mark and often in nooks or crevices. 



Mr. Bryant notes the Western Gull as " tolerably common at Magdalena 

 Bay in winter, and northward along the western coast," adding that it is " said 

 to breed upon the Todos Santos Islands o£f Ensenada." Mr. Goss states ^ that 

 a few nest on San Pedro Martir Isle. 



The general range of this species includes practically the entire Pacific coast 

 of North America. 



Larus calif ornicus Lawb. 



California Gull. 



Larus califorricus Belding, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., V. 1888, 549 (San Jose'). 

 Bryant, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 2d ser., II. 1889, 251 (San Jose' del Cabo). 



Mr. Frazar notes this Gull as " common in winter at La Paz," and also met 

 with between Loreto and Carmen Island on March 13, but his collection 

 contains no specimens. Mr. Belding records it as " moderately common," and 

 mentions seeing it at San Jose del Cabo as late as May 17. There is no proba- 

 bility, however, that it breeds anywhere in or near Lower California. Mr. 

 Bryant " obtained immature birds at Magdalena Bay in the winter," but does 

 not mention finding the species at any other locality. 



The California Gull has occurred in winter on the western coast of Mexico as 

 far southward as the Rio de Coahuayana, Colima. It is also a common winter 



1 Auk, V. 1888, 241. 



