86 HERRING GULL. 



wardly by the use of feet, wings, and bill. For this rea- 

 son it nests near the water s edge, often where it can 

 slide from the eggs directly into its true element. The 

 nest is a slight depression in the earth, in which are laid 

 two elliptical eggs, in color olive-brown, slightly spotted 

 with blackish. 



LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS. (ORDER LONGIPENNES.) 



Gulls and Terns. (Family Larid^.) 



No birds are more widely distributed than the Gulls 



and Terns, Some species are pelagic, visiting the land 



„ . „ „ only at long intervals and when nest- 



Hemng Gull, "^ ° 



Larmargeutatus ing ; Others live along the coast, and 

 smithsonianm. several specics rcsort to inland waters. 

 Plate IV. About one hundred species are known, 



fifty being Gulls and fifty Terns, The former are, as a' 

 rule, larger, stouter birds than the latter, and, generally 

 speaking, are more maritime. The commonest of the ten 

 species found in the Eastern States is the Herring Gull, 

 It nests from Maine northward, and is found southward 

 along our coast from October 1 to April, This is the 

 Gull we see in such numbers in our bays and harbors, 

 fiying gracefully and apparently aimlessly about, but in 

 reality ever keeping its bright black eyes fixed on the 

 water in search of some floating morsel, which it deftly 

 picks from the surface. It frequently follows vessels, 

 hanging over the stern day after day, and deserting its 

 post only to feed on scraps thrown overboard from the 

 galley. There are said to be rehable records of these 

 birds following the same vessel from the Irish coast to 

 New York Harbor. 



Gulls do excellent service in devouring much refuse 

 that would otherwise be cast ashore to decay ; but, useful 



