LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 



[60.1] Little Gim.. Larux minufus. 



This Gull is the smallest of the family; it is 

 a European bird, and has accidentally strayed to 

 our shores but a few times. Its plumage is sim- 

 ilar to that of the Bonaparte Gull but the bill is 

 red. It breeds in the marshes around the Baltic 

 Sea, placing its nest of dead vegetation on the 

 highest parts of the marsh. They lay three eggs 

 of a greenish gray color marked with dark ])rown 

 and lilac. Size 1.75 x 1.25. 



61. Ross Gull. Rhodostethia rosea. 



Range. — The Arctic regions, south in winter 

 to Alaska, Greenland, northern Europe and Asia. 



This beautiful bird is the most rare of all the 

 Gulls, being very difficult to obtain because of 

 its extreme northerly distribution. It is in form 

 and plumage like Bonaparte Gull, with the excep- 

 tions that the head is white, there being a nar- 

 row black collar around the neck, the tail is 

 wedge shaped, and the whole under parts from 

 the chin to the tail are rosy in the breeding plum- 

 age. The nests and eggs remain still undiscover- 

 ed, although Nansen, in August 1896, found a 

 supposed breeding ground in Franz Josef Land, 

 because of the numbers of the birds, but found 

 no nests. 



62. Sabine's Gull. Xema sahinii. 



Range. — Arctic regions, breeding from Alaska 

 and Greenland and northward, and wintering 

 south to New England. 



Gull 



i 

 VV 



Greenish hi-own 



Saliine Gull 



A handsome bird, having the slaty hood 

 bordered behind with a black ring, the primar- 

 ies black, white tipped, and the tail slightly 

 forked. They breed abundantly on the marshes 

 of northern Alaska and Greenland, nesting the 

 same as others of the species. The two or 

 there eggs are laid in .lune. They are greenish 

 brown in color and are marked with dark 

 brown. Size 1.75 x 1.25. Data. — Hudson Bay, 

 August 1, 1894. Eggs laid on the ground in 

 the moss; no nest except the hollow in the 

 moss. 



49 



