LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN GULLS AND TERNS. 147 



Nesting. — This gull breeds in colonies on the shores of lakes or of 

 the sea not far above the water. It is especially fond of grassy- 

 islands, and often makes its nest among the wrack thrown up on the 

 shore. It has been found in Norway breeding on the shores of lakes 

 4,000 feet above the sea. Instances are on record where it has occu- 

 pied the deserted nest of a crow in bushes or trees. The nest is gen- 

 erally rather large, and is made up of seaweed, grass, weed stalks, 

 bits of heather, etc. 



Eggs — Three eggs constitute a set. They are olive brown to 

 straw color in color, or even pale blue or light green, spotted and 

 streaked with brown and black. The average measurements are 

 2.25 by 1.50 inches. 



Young. — The downy young are of a yellowish gray color, lighter 

 on the face, throat, and abdomen. The upper parts and throat are 

 marked with large blackish spots. One of these spots always touches 

 the base of the upper mandible. 



Behavior. — Saunders ( 1889) . saj^s : 



As a rule this gull does not go far from land, and owing to its being one of 

 the first to seek the shore on the approacli of coarse weather, it has been made 

 the subject of manj' rhymes and poetical allusions. It feeds on small fish, 

 mollusks, crustaceans, etc., and may frequently be seen picking up grubs on 

 the furrows in company with rooks, while it will sometimes eat grain, 



Macgillivray (1852) says: 



The fields having been cleared of their produce and partially plowed, 

 to prepare them for another crop, the " sea mews," deserting the coasts, ap- 

 pear in large flocks, which find subsistence in picking up the worms and 

 larvae that have been exposed. These flocks may be met with here and there 

 at long Intervals in all the agricultural districts, not only in the neighborhood 

 of the sea, but in the parts most remote from it. Although they are most 

 numerous in stormy weather, it is not the tempest alone that induces them to 

 advance inland ; for in the finest days of winter and spring they attend upon 

 the plow, or search the grass fields as assiduously as at any other time. 



This gull also picks up floating offal from the surface of the water, 

 and catches small fish, such as sand eels and young herring. From 

 the beaches and rocks on the shore it picks up Crustacea, mollusks, 

 echinoderms, etc. In general habits it closely resembles the ring- 

 billed gull. Its flight is light and buoyant and it dips down to the 

 water gracefully, rarely if ever plunging below the surface. Its 

 cry is shrill and somewhat harsh. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — Northern Europe and Asia. East to northeastern 

 Siberia (Gichiga and Marcova, Anadyr District) and Kamchatka. 

 South to latitude 53° N. West to the British Isles. North to the 

 Arctic coast of Europe and Asia. 



