50 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



parts, wliite, the latter with a rosy tinge; mantle, dark 

 slate-gray; outer six primaries, black; bill, deep car- 

 mine; feet, black; iris and edge of eyelids, carmine. 

 Adults in Winter : Under parts, without rosy tint ; 

 head, white, mottled with dusky ; bill and feet, dull. 

 Young : Mantle, variegated with light grayish-brown ; 

 primaries, brownish-black, lighter on tips; secondaries, 

 dusky on outer webs ; tail, with a broad terminal band 

 of dusky with narrow white tips ; upper tail-coverts, 

 white; bill and feet, brownish-black tinged with red. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : On the ground in marshes ; 

 constructed of seaweed, sedges, and eelgrass, Ec.c.s : 

 2 to 5, from dull grayish to dark olive, heavily marked 

 with spots and splashes of brown, black, chestnut, and 

 lavender. 



Distribution. — Tropical and temperate coasts of 

 North .\merica ; breeds from Maine (rarely) and 

 Massachusetts (abundantly but local) south on the 

 Atlantic and Gulf coasts to Te.xas, the Lesser Antilles, 

 and Venezuela; winters from Georgia and Gulf coast 

 south to western Mexico. Chile, and Brazil ; casual in 

 Colorado. Nebraska. Wisconsin, Ontario, and Iowa. 



The Laughing Gull is well named, for seem- 

 ingly it laughs. No great streteh of the imagina- 

 tion is required to assume that its loud cries are 

 those of real mirth. It is a handsome creature 

 in the breeding season, with its dark mantle, 

 black head, and white breast faintly tinged with 

 the color of the rose. 



It breeds normally along most of the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States. Until recent years it 

 has been almost extirpated by constant persecu- 

 tion on the New England coast but now, under 

 protection, its numbers are increasing. It nests 

 on sandv islands, usually in tall thick grasses or 

 shrubbery ; in the north it builds a substantial 

 warm nest of grasses and weeds, but in the 

 south a mere hollow in the sand often suffices. 

 In pleasant warm weather the birds are seen to 

 leave their nests, trusting apparently to the heat 

 of the sun, but in cool or stormy weather the 

 female incubates closely. The young leave the 



nest soon after they are hatched and run about 

 on the sandy soil, squatting and hiding in the 

 thickest cover at the first alarm. Meanwhile the 

 jiarents wheel high overhead, uttering their notes 

 of apprehension. These birds are very gregari- 

 ous and breed, as well as feed, in flocks. 



Their food is largely composed of marine 

 objects picked up on bars, beaches, flats, in the 

 beds of estuaries and even at times in the salt 

 marshes but ever near the sea Audubon tells 

 how the Lausjhing Gull robs the Brown Pelican 



Photo by Herbert Mills Cuurtesy of Nat. Asso. Aud. Soc. 



NEST AND EGGS OF LAUGHING GULL 



Passage Key, Florida 



in Florida. Waiting until the Pelican dives and 

 comes to the surface the Gull alights upon its 

 head and snatches the small fish from its enor- 

 mous bill. Sometimes this Gull follows schools 

 of porpoises for the small fish that they drive 

 to the surface. Everywhere it adds life, beauty, 

 and interest to the scene. 



Edward Howe Forbush. 



FRANKLIN'S GULL 

 Larus franklini Richardson 



A. O. U. Number 59 



Other Names. — Prairie Pigeon ; Franklin's Rosy 

 Gull 



General Description. — Length. 14 inches. Color, 

 white with dark bluish-slate mantle and dark slate hood. 



Color. — .Adults in Summer: Hood, dark slate 

 extending around upper part of neck as well as on 



head; eyelids, li'liite; mantle, dark bluish-slate; outer 

 primaries, with dusky bars near tip. this color gradu- 

 ating from about 2 inches in width on first to a small 

 bar on sixth; primaries and secondaries, white-tipped; 

 tail, pale grayish-blue, the three outside pairs of feathers, 

 white ; neck all around, rump, and whole under parts, 



