52 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



Photo by H. K. Job Courtesy of Outtny Pub. Lo. 



FRANKLIN'S GULL 

 Dropping down among the reeds to its nest 



late June and July the equatic vegetation seems 

 alive with paddling puff-balls. 



In their feeding habits during the warmer 

 part of the year they are largely insectivorous. 

 Out in the marshy lakes they feed a great deal 

 upon nymphs of the dragon-fly, and on any in- 

 sects or larvffi locally available. On the plowed 

 fields they find many injurious grubs and cut- 

 worms. Later they are active in pursuit of 

 grasshoppers. 



Their flocking is very spectacular, both when 

 they are preparing to leave in the fall, and when 

 they arrive in spring. In selected places, es- 

 pecially near the nesting-grounds, the prairie is 

 sometimes fairly white with them. 



Gulls are supposed to be chiefly maritime birds, 

 but this species is a seeming exception. In fact 

 the Rosy Gulls are rarely seen either on the At- 

 lantic or the Pacific coast of the United States, 

 though in winter some of them at least come 

 out along the Gulf coast, and follow it down into 

 South America. But it would seem hard to one 

 who has known it in the sloughs and on the 

 prairies to picture it flying over the ocean, where 

 it could easily be mistaken for the Laughing 

 Gull. Herbert K. Job. 



BONAPARTE'S GULL 



Larus phila 



A. O. U. Xumljcr 



Other Names. — Bonaparte's Rosy Gull ; Black- 

 headed Gull : Sea Pigeon. 



General Description. — Length, 14 inches. Color, 

 white with pale bluish-gray mantle and dark slate 

 colored head. 



Color. — Adults in Summer: Head, dark slate reach- 

 ing further in front than behind ; a 'white patch above 

 and another below eye: mantle, pale grayish-blue; most 

 of primaries zvith black tips: neck all around, tail, 

 and under parts, pure white, latter rose-tinted ; bill, 

 black: gape and eyelids carmine; feet, coral-red; webs, 

 vermilion. Adults in Winter: No hood: crown and 

 back of head, mottled with dusky; back of neck with 

 tint of color of mantle; a crescent before eye and patch 

 on side of head, deep slate: bill, light-colored at base 

 below; feet, flesh color. Young: No mottling on 

 crown; a patch of dusky on side of head; wing-coverts 

 and shoulders, dusky-brown with lighter edges ; pri- 



delphia ( Ord) 



.^ee Color Plate 6 



maries and secondaries, dusky tipped ; tail white with 

 a subterminal dusky bar; bill, dull flesh color; feet, 

 light flesh color; iris, brown. 



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

 usually on elevated hummocks ; constructed of small 

 sticks and dead grasses. Eggs : 3, olive-gray with a 

 wreath of dark and light brown spots around large end 

 and some scattered markings of the same color over 

 whole surface. 



Distribution. — North America in general ; breeds 

 from northwestern Alaska and northern Mackenzie 

 south to British Columbia and Keewatin ; winters from 

 Maine to Florida : on the Pacific coast from southern 

 FJritish Columbia to Lower California and western 

 Mexico, and on the Gulf coast to Texas and Yucatan; 

 in migration west to Kotzebue Sound and east to 

 Ungava ; casual in the Bahamas and Bermuda ; acci- 

 dental in Europe. 



Bonaparte's Gull is one of the smaller Ameri- 

 can Gulls, and unlike most of that family is 

 sometimes foimd in flocks which often resort to 

 plowed fields and swamps where the birds feed 

 on insects and earth-worms. Its favorite haunts, 

 however, are coasts, rivers, and lakes, where it 

 feeds much after the manner of the Herrins: Gull. 



Along the seacoast the Bonapartes are decidedly 

 gregarious and often associate with Terns and 

 other Gulls. Unlike their relatives, however, 

 they are not given to following ferryboats and 

 other craft from which offal and garbage are 

 thrown overboard. In these surroundings their 

 diet is chiefly marine worms and crustaceans 



