162 BULLETIN 113, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



through November, and from South Carolina southward they are 

 abundant all winter, frequenting the bays and tidal estuaries in large 

 flocks. They are strictly maritime at all seasons and seldom wander 

 inland or up the rivers beyond tidewater. Their winter range ex- 

 tends to the west coast of Mexico, Peru, and Brazil, where they 

 associate with royal terns, brown pelicans, and man-o'-war birds on 

 relations which are often more intimate than friendly. 



Mr. G. K. Noble (1916) has recently called attention to the fact 

 that the laughing gulls of the North American coasts are larger than 

 those of the West Indies and has given the former a new name, Larus 

 atricilla megdlopterus (Bruch). 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — Along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts (formerly at 

 many localities now deserted) from central Maine (Lincoln County) 

 to southern Texas (Cameron County). Principal colonies are in 

 Massachusetts (Muskeget Island), Virginia (Northampton County), 

 Louisiana (various islands), and Texas (Padre and Bird Islands). 

 Birds breeding in the Bahamas and West Indies have been separated 

 as a smaller subspecies, to which probably belong the birds breeding 

 on the coastal islands of Venezuela and Honduras. 



Breeding grounds protected in the following national reserva- 

 tions: In Florida, Passage Key; in Louisiana, Breton Island, and 

 Shell Keys. 



Winter range. — From the Bahamas, coasts of South Carolina, 

 Mississippi, and Louisiana southward, mainly in the Gulf of Mexico 

 and the Caribbean Sea. It is impossible to separate the winter ranges 

 of the two subspecies, but the species has been taken in winter as far 

 south as Brazil (Cajutuba), and on the Pacific coast from central 

 Mexico (Mazatlan) to Peru (Santa Lucia) and coast of Chile. 



Spring migration. — Migrants arrive in North Carolina in April 

 and May ; Virginia, about April 1 ; New Jersey, April 6 to May 1 ; 

 Massachusetts, Muskeget Island, April 12. 



Fall migration. — Late dates of departure: Massachusetts, Nan- 

 tucket, October 8 ; New York, Long Island, October 28 ; New Jersey, 

 September 20 to October 1 ; South Carolina, Weston, October 20. 



Casual records. — There are numerous inland records of stragglers, 

 as far north as Quebec (Montreal, October 24, 1888), and Ontario 

 (Toronto, May 23, 1890), and as far west as Iowa (Blencoe, October 

 10, 1894), Colorado (near Denver, December, 1889), and New Mexico 

 (Fort Wingate) . Accidental in Bermuda (winter of 1881-82) , Lower 

 California (San Jose del Cabo, September 6 and November 9, 1887), 

 Great Britain (several old records), France (Le Crotay, June 29, 

 1877), and Austria (near Trieste, winter). 



