74 BULLETIN 113, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Nesting. — When Kumlien (1879) found this species breeding in 

 Cumberland Sound in 1878 he supposed that it was identical with 

 the glaucous-winged gull of the Pacific coast and so reported it. He 

 then gave us the following brief account of its habits : 



They are quite common in the upper Cumberland waters, where they breed. 

 Arrived with the opening of tlie water and soon began nesting. The nest was 

 placed on the shelving rocks on high cliffs. Two pairs nested very near our 

 harbor, but the ravens tore the nest down and destroyed the eggs. Only a 

 single well-identified egg was secured. This gull is unknown to Governor 

 Fencker on the Greenland coast. They remained about the harbor a great 

 deal and were often observed making away with such scraps as the cook had 

 thrown overboard ; were shy and difficult to shoot. Full-grown young of this 

 species were shot in the first days of September. These were even darker 

 than the young of L. argentatus, the primaries and tail being very nearly black. 



Since that time nothing further has been learned of its breeding 

 habits, eggs, or young. 



Eggs. — Several sets of eggs were collected by Mr. J. S. Warmbath 

 on one of the Peary expeditions, which have since found their way 

 into collections as eggs of Kumlien's gull. These eggs were 

 taken in Ellesmere Land on June 15, 1900, and are probably eggs of 

 a new species of gull, to be known as Larus thayeri. Probably the 

 only authentic egg of Larus kumlieni in existence is the one re- 

 ferred to above as taken by Kumlien. This egg is now in the United 

 States National Museum ; it is a miserable specimen, too badly broken 

 to measure accurately, and is tied together with thread. In shape it 

 is practically elongate ovate. The ground color is " olive buff " ; it 

 is sparingly spotted over the entire surface with small spots of 

 " bister," " sepia," several lighter shades of brown, and various 

 shades of brownish drab. If a series of eggs were available for 

 study they would probably show the usual variations which are 

 found in nearly all gulls' eggs. 



Plumages. — Dr. Jonathan D wight (1906) has made a careful 

 study of the plumages of this rare species and, based on the examina- 

 tion of 22 specimens, has given us the following conclusions : 



The natal down is unknown, as no chicks have as yet found their way into 

 collections. The juvenal plumage may be described as follows: 



Above, drab-gray mottled with dull white and obscurely barred and mottled 

 with darker gray ; below, more solidly gray, paler about the head and throat. 

 Flight feathers a brownish gray, darker than the body, the outer webs of the 

 primaries darkest. Tail almost solidly drab-gray, the basal portion and tlie 

 outer pair of rectrices sprinkled with dull white; the upper and under tail 

 coverts similar in color, but with a good deal of blotching or barring. They 

 might easily pass for specimens of glaucescens if it were not for the small 

 bills and rather smaller dimensions. They are considerably darker (especially 

 the primaries) than the darkest leucopterus I have seen, and the nearly solid 

 gray of the tail is a feature not seen in leucopterus. Besides this, the barring 

 and mottling Is much coarser and darker. In one of the birds there is a faintly 



