HERRING GULL 325 



the harbors. Though none are now known to breed regu- 

 larly west of No Man's Land off Penobscot Bay, flocks of 

 greater or less size spend the whole summer off the north 

 shore of Massachusetts, and a few are found at the same 

 season off Xantucket and the Vineyard. Early in August 

 these flocks receive accessions from the north, and by the 

 end of September large flocks have returned to their winter 

 feeding-grounds in the harbors of cities and settlements, 

 large or small. At this season, too, and in spring, gulls visit 

 inland waters, settling on ponds near the sea-coast as long 

 as there is open water ; along the Hudson and the Con- 

 necticut they are common migrants, but they are very rare 

 migrants in Berkshire County, Mass. By the end of April, 

 migration is practically over. On the breeding-ground they 

 regularly light on trees, but during the rest of the year, they 

 spend their time either floating on the water, or circling over 

 it, in search of refuse, or gather in large companies on the 

 exposed sand-bars and mud-flats. If disturbed on the breed- 

 ing-ground the gulls circle about overhead, repeating cease- 

 lessly a dry kak, kak-kak, or a loud cry like the scream of 

 a Red-shouldered Hawk. In winter, when flocks are settling 

 down on a sand-bar, they are often very noisy, whining and 

 squealing in a high-pitched voice. 



The old birds have the head, tail, and under parts white, 

 and wings and back gray ; the wings are tipped with black. 

 The immature birds are at first uniformly brown, but as 

 they begin to change to the adult plumage, many inter- 

 mediate stages are to be seen. The Herring Gull is by far 

 the commonest species in winter ; in summer the much 

 smaller Tern, or Mackerel Gull, is commoner in certain 

 waters, as about the islands south of Cape Cod, and along 

 parts of Long Island Sound. It will be well, before at- 

 tempting to identify the other, less common species of gull 

 or tern, to study carefully the appearance of the gulls 

 which are to be seen in every harbor along our coast, till 



