832 



KEY AND DESCRlPTloy 



Length, 24 ; wing, 17i (lo^lTi) ; tail, 1\ ; tarsus, 2^ ; culmen, 2^. 

 North America ; breeding from northern New York, Minnesota and 

 northward, and wintering from Nova Scotia to Cuba. The European 

 Herring Gull (51. Lanift aryentatus) is occasionally seen in eastern 

 North America. It is somewhat smaller, and the black spot on the tirst 

 primary is either broken or entirely absent. 



20. Ring-billed Gull (54. Lilras dekiicardnsis). — A large, 

 "\vhite-l leaded gull, with pearl-gray mantle, Avhite belly, white 

 tail ; the tips of the six otiter primaries white, and baok of the 

 tip black for a less anel less distance. The bill is greenish- 

 yellow with a dark ring-like band in front of the nostril. The 

 young is very much mottled, with blackish and grayish colors 

 nearly everywhere. 



Length, 19; wintr, 14f (13|-15|) ; tall, G; tarsus, 2J ; culmen. If. 

 North America at large, more common in the interior ; breeding from 

 Minne.sota and Newfoundland northward, and wintering from Long 

 Island to Mexico. 



21. Laughing Gull (."iS. Li''iriis (((rirlUa). — A rather large, 



])lack-headed gull, 

 with dark pearl - 

 :4r:iy mantle, the 

 lower neck, breast, 

 belly, and tail 

 white, and the pri- 

 maries, except the 

 small tips of the 

 inner ones, black. 

 In winter, the head 

 and throat are 

 white, with more or 

 less of grayish tints. 

 Its notes sound 

 "like the odd and 

 excited laughter of an Indian squaw." (Black-headed Gull.) 



Length, 16^; wing, 13; tail, 5; tarsus, 2; culmen, 1|. Atlantic and 

 Gulf coasts of the United States ; breeding from 'I'exas to Maine, and 

 wintering from South Carolina to northern South America. 



Laughing Gull 



