GULLS 



41 



GLAUCOUS GULL 



Larus hyperboreus Guiincrus 



A. <J I', \umhcr 4 



Other Names. — Burgomaster; Burgomaster Gull; 

 Ice Gull : Harbor Gull ; Blue Gull. 



Length. — 30 inches. 



Color. — .Adults in Summer: Mantle, falc bhic-yray : 

 rest of plumaijc, entirely white: bill, chrome yellow, 

 more waxy on end with a bright vermilion spot at 

 angle; legs, pale flesh color; iris, light yellow, -\dui.ts 

 IN Winter: Similar to summer plumage, but head and 

 hindneck tinged with pale brownish-gray. Young : 

 Upper parts, u4iitish mottled ivith raiv itinher, pale red- 

 dish-bro'ccn. and dusky, this coloration heaviest on back; 

 under parts, nearly uniform pale brown ; wings and tail, 

 barred with same ; hill and legs, pale flesh color, the 

 former black-tijiped ; iris, brown. 



Si-c Color r'l,ite 5 



Nest and Eggs.— Nest : In tussocks of grass: con- 

 structed of seaweed and dry grass. Eggs : 2 or 3, white 

 to dark grayish-brown, blotched with brown and 

 brownish-black. 



Distribution. — Arctic regions ; breeds from north- 

 western Alaska, Melville Island, and northern Green- 

 land, south to Aleutian Islands, northern Mackenzie, 

 and central Ungava, and on Arctic islands of eastern 

 hemisphere; winters from the Aleutians and Green- 

 land south to Monterey, California, the Great Lakes, 

 and Long Island, N. Y., and casually to Bermuda, 

 North Carolina, and Te.xas ; in Europe and Asia south 

 to the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian seas, and 

 Japan. 



Under one of its popular names, the " Burgo- 

 master Gull," the Glaucous Gull was made 

 famous, or rather infamous, by Celia Thaxter's 

 poem, which described its rapacious habits. 

 This j)ocm found its way into many school read- 

 ing books of a generation ago. It gives a 

 vivid and substantially accurate picture of the 

 appearance and activities of a group of sea birds, 

 and portrays one of the characteristics of the 

 Burgomaster. Indeed, according to other ob- 

 servers, the bird not only robs smaller Gulls and 

 other sea birds of the hsh they catch, but eats 

 their eggs and young and sometimes the adult 

 birds themselves. It is recorded that a member 

 of Ross's expedition to the .\rctic regions shot 

 one of these Gulls which. u[ioii being struck, 

 disgorged a Little .-Xuk it had just devoured, and 

 when dissected was found to have another mem- 

 ber of the same species in its stomach. 



Fishing fleets are likely to have the company 

 of one or more of these Gulls, on the watch for 

 any offal that may be thrown overboard. Under 

 such conditions it has often been caught with a 

 hook and line with a fish as bait. Though 

 naturally timid and suspicious, its fondness for 

 offal is likely to overcome its caution, and cause 

 it to enter bays and even inland waters. Several 

 specimens have been taken in the lower Hudson 

 River and in New York Bay. and individuals 

 have been seen in the Great Lakes. 



A curious trait of this Gull is its apparent dis- 

 inclination to alight in the water. In its natural 

 habitat it alights generally on the highest point 

 of an ice hummock. It displavs none of the 

 affection for its kindred which is characteristic 

 of most of the Terns and Gulls, and will 

 promptly desert either young or mate when they 

 are in danger. 



GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL 

 Larus marinus Li)iiiiriis 



A, 



Gull 



<) v. Xumlier 47 



Saddleback; 



Other Names. — Black-backed 

 Coflin-carrier : Cobb; Wagell. 



General Description. — Length, 30 inches. Color, 

 white with a deep slate mantle. 



Color. — Adults in Su.mmer: Mantle, deep dark slate 

 ■Zintli a purplish timje: secondaries, broadly tipped with 

 white; primaries, black, white-tipped; rest of plumage, 

 pure white; bill, chrome yellow, tip wax yellow with 

 a large spot of bright vermilion on angle; legs, pale 

 flesh color; iris, lemon-yellow; eyelids, vermilion. 

 Adults in Winter: Similar to summer jilumage. but 

 head and neck streaked with dusky. YouNc. : .\bove, 

 dull whitish, mottled with brown and pale chestnut; 

 wing-coverts and secondaries, dull brown with light 

 edges ; primaries, plain dusky, tipped with white ; tail, 



.See Color Plate 5 



brownish-black, fading to white at base, imperfectly 

 barred with brown ; forehead, crown, and under parts 

 in general, dull whitish, mottled on abdomen with brown 

 and dusky ; throat, usually immaculate but sometimes 

 like breast with faint brownish streaks. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Usually on small island ; 

 large and bulky; constructed of dry grasses and well- 

 cupped. Eggs: 2 or 3, pale olive-gray, blotched with 

 dark brown and black, with some purplish spots. 



Distribution. — Coasts of North Atlantic; breeds 

 from North Devon Island and central Greenland south 

 to Nova Scotia, and to latitude 50° on European coasts ; 

 winters from southern Greenland south to the Great 

 Lakes and Delaware Bay (casually to Morida). and the 

 Canaries ; accidental in Bermuda. 



