46 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



webs, ycllozt.'; iris, brown ; eyelids, red. Adults in 

 Winter : Similar to summer plumage, but head and neck 

 streaked with dusky and bill much duller. Young: 

 Dull whitish, mottled with dusky on head, neck, rump, 

 wing-coverts, and secondaries; back, grayish-blue, 

 feathers with lighter edges ; bill, dull Hesh color ; 

 terminal halt, dusky. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest; On the ground; constructed 

 of small sticks and grass. Eggs ; Usually 3 or 4. some- 



times 5, pale bluish-white to brownish-clay color, 

 blotched with dark brown and black zigzag markings. 

 Distribution. — Western North America: breeds from 

 east-central British Columbia and Great Slave Lake 

 south to northeastern California, northern Utah, and 

 northern North Dakota ; winters from its breeding 

 range southward to Lower California and western 

 Mexico ; accidental in Kansas, Te.xas, Colorado, Al- 

 berta, and Hawaii. 



RING-BILLED GULL 



Larus delawarensis Ord 



.\. U. .Xumbcr 54 See Coliir Plate 



Other Names. — Common Gull ; Lake Gull. 



General Description. — Length. 20 inches. Color, 

 pure white with pale bluish-gray mantle. Easily con- 

 fused with the Herring Gull. 



Color. — Adults in Summer: Mantle, pale bluish- 

 gray ; first primary, black, white spot near end ; second, 

 plain black; third, black with gray space on inner web; 

 next three, black-tipped ; rest of primaries and sec- 

 ondaries, colop of mantle; rest of plumage, pure white; 

 bill, greenish-yellow with a broad band of black cucir- 

 cling it at angle: feet, greenish-yellow; iris, pale yel- 

 low; eyelids, red. Adults in Winter; Similar to sum- 

 mer plumage, but head and neck behind sf^ottcd with 

 dusky. Young ; Above, mottled with brown and gray- 

 ish-blue ; wing-coverts, mostly dusky margined with 

 lighter; secondaries and primaries, with a subterniinal 



brownish area shading forward into gray; tail, with a 

 broad subterminal band of dusky and indistinctly barred 

 with brown; below, faintly mottled with brownish; bill, 

 flesh color, dusky on terminal half ; legs, dull greenish- 

 yellow ; iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : In the grass in marshes ; 

 liuilt of dead reeds. Eggs: 2 to 3, bluish-white to dark 

 firown, spotted and blotched with dififerent shades of 

 brown and lavender. 



Distribution. — North .A.merica at large ; breeds from 

 southern British Columbia across British America to 

 southern Ungava, south to Oregon, Colorado, North 

 Dakota, central Wisconsin, central Ontario, northern 

 New York (casually), and northern Quebec; winters 

 from northern United States southward to Bermuda, 

 the Gulf coast, Cuba, and southern Mexico. 



r 



Photo by H. K. Job 



Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Co. 



RING-BILLED GULLS RETURNING TO iiEST 



