LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN GULLS AND TERNS. 13 

 DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — Northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. 

 In North America east to central Greenland (latitude 64° to 73° N.). 

 South to Cumberland (Exeter Sound) and Hall Peninsula (Grinnell 

 Bay), Melville Peninsula (Winter Harbor), and the Arctic coast of 

 North America. West to northwestern Alaska (Kotzebue Sound to 

 Point Barrow. North to Melvnlle Island, Banks Island, North 

 Somerset, and probably others of the Arctic islands. In Europe 

 from Iceland to Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla, perhaps occasionally 

 on the coast of northern Norway; also in northeastern Siberia and 

 probably the entire Siberian coast. Siberian birds have been de- 

 scribed as a distinct subspecies, but it is doubtful if on good grounds. 



Win ter range. — Poorly defined. Probably in Southern Hemisphere 

 south to Peru (Callao Bay), northern Australia (Cape York), 

 Burma, and South Africa (AValfisch Bay) ; also said to occur on 

 inland waters of Europe south to the Mediterranean, and in small 

 numbers from the coast of southern California to the Galapagos; 

 occasional in winter in the Orkney Islands, off the south coast of 

 England, and off Japan. It seems probable that these more northern 

 records are not true wintering birds, but late migrants or stragglers. 



Spring migration. — Northward off both coasts of North America. 

 Early dates of arrival: North Carolina, Cape Hatteras, April 18; 

 Massachusetts, May 23; Maine, May 29; New Brunswick, Grand 

 Manan, May 26 ; Melville Peninsula, Winter Harbor, May 29 ; Green- 

 land, June 10; California, San Francisco Bay, May 5; Alaska, St. 

 Michael, May 23, and Point Barrow, May 23 to June 6 ; northeastern 

 Siberia, Liakoff Islands, June 20. 



Fall migration. — Southward by same routes. Early dates of 

 arrival : Newfoundland, Bonne Bay, August 16 ; Nova Scotia, Sable 

 Island, September 3; Rhode Island, September 13; New Jersey, 

 October; Alaska, Kodiak Island, August 15; Washington, Puget 

 Sound, September 7; California, Monterey Bay, August 2; Mexican 

 coast, October 5; Peru, Callao Bay, November 17. Late dates of 

 departure: Northeastern Greenland, latitude 75° 49' N., August 6; 

 western Greenland, Disco Island, September 6; Nova Scotia, Halifax, 

 October 4; Maine, late October; Massachusetts, December 9; Rhode 

 Island, October 11 ; New York, Long Island, October 30 ; New Jersey, 

 December; Alaska, Point Barrow, August 15 to September 20; Wash- 

 ington, Puget Sound, October 22; California, Monterey Baj^, Octo- 

 ber 27. 



Casual records. — Spring records from Nebraska and Michigan and 

 fall records from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri are 

 probably casual stragglers, but they may indicate a limited migra- 

 tion through the interior from Hudson Bay. 



