WATER BIRDS. 55 



told that it nested on the Beaver Islands near Petoskey, Michigan, and 

 abundantly on Gull Island, near Escanaba (Birds of Incl., p. 573). This 

 may have been true at that time (1896, 1897), but in 1904 none were to be 

 found nesting on the Beaver Islands, and careful inquiry failed to reveal 

 any evidence that they had nested there in recent years. It is possible 

 that some still nest on the Gull Islands near Escanaba, but even this is 

 doubtful. Kumlien & Hollister (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 10) state that it 

 formerly bred on Spider and Strawberry Islands, Green Bay, from which 

 locahties eggs were taken in 1879, 1881, and 1882. Mr. J. H. Langille 

 says that it breeds by thousands on one of the Western Islands on the eastern 

 shore of Georgian Bay, Ontario, near Parry Sound. He states that the nests 

 are placed on the ground, often so close together as almost to touch each 

 other, and the nests as well as the eggs closely resemble those of the Herring 

 Gull except that they are much smaller (Our Birds in their Haunts, 1884, 

 p. 428). 



This species is similar in general habits to the Herring Gull, but appears 

 to be less given to the society of man, since it is not so often seen about 

 our harbors; it also seems to visit the smaller streams and ponds much less 

 frequently than its larger relative. 



The eggs are similar to those of the Herring Gull, but smaller, averaging 

 2.39 by 1.71 inches. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Head white and tail square in summer adult. Mantle pale pearl-gray; six outer primaries 

 mostly black, with white tips or white spots near the tip; bill greenish-yellow crossed by a 

 band of black near the tip, the black usually deepest on lower mandible. The winter adult 

 is similar except that the head and neck are commonly streaked with dusky. The immature 

 bird of the first year has the upper parts mottled with dusky brown and pearl-blue; the 

 wing coverts quite dark with lighter margins, the primaries entirely black and the secon- 

 daries mostly so; tail with a broad band of black near the tip, the tip itself white. Length, 

 18 to 20 inches; wing, 13.60 to 15.75; culmen, 1.55 to 1.75. 



16. Franklin's Gull. Laras franklini Bich. (59) 



Synonyms: Franklin's Rosy Gull. — Larus franklini, Rich., 1831, and most authors. 

 — Chroicocephalus franklini, Lawr., Coues, and some others. 



A small nearly white gull with a black head; very similar to Bonaparte's 

 Gull, but in adult plumage with the bill bright red instead of black. It 

 is, however, very frequently confused with the latter species. 



Distribution. — Interior of North America, chiefly west of the Mississippi 

 River and east of the Rocky jMountains; breeds from Iowa northward; 

 south in winter through Mexico and Central America to Peru. 



Franklin's Gull, as shown by the above paragraph, is a western bird 

 which should not occur in numbers on Lake Michigan, yet there are numer- 

 ous records for the western side of the lake and it has been taken more than 

 once near Chicago. We do not know of a Michigan specimen in any museum, 

 nor is there an unquestionable record, yet it seems proper to include the 

 species here, since it is practically certain that it does occur during migra- 

 tions, at least in the western half of the Upper Peninsula. G. A. Stockwell 

 ("Archer", Forest & Stream VIII, No. 23, p. 380) says: "Common in 

 northern Wisconsin and adjoining parts of Michigan; is migratory." Kum- 

 lien & Hollister (Birds of Wisconsin, p. 10) say "Not common, but of regular 

 occurrence in the eastern })art of the state as a fall migrant from September 

 until the small lakes and rivers are closed by ice." Butler states (Birds 



