LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN GULLS AND TERNS. 163 



Egg dates. — Virginia: Forty-eight records, May 25 to July 19; 

 twenty- four records, June 9 to 26. Louisiana and Texas: Thirty- 

 three records, April 8 to June 21; seventeen records. May 21 to 

 June 4. 



LARUS FRANKUNI Richardson. 

 FRANKLIN'S GULL. 



HABITS. 



Spring. — In late April or early May, when the rich black soil has thawed to 

 the surface, the settler of the northwest prairies goes forth to plow. The warm 

 season is short and his tillage vast, so he delays not for wind or storm. One 

 day he is dark as a coal heaver, when the strong winds which sweep almost 

 ceaselessly over the prairie hurl upon him avalanches of black dust. Next day, 

 perchance, in a driving storm of wet snow, he turns black furrows in the in- 

 terminable white expanse, his shaggy fur coat buttoned close around him. Then 

 comes a day of warm sunshine, when, as he plows, he is followed by a troop of 

 handsome birds which some might mistake for white doves. Without sign of 

 fear they alight in the furrow close behind him, and, with graceful cari-iage, 

 hurry about to pick up the worms and grubs which the plow has just unearthed. 

 Often have I watched the plowman and his snowy retinue, and it appeals to 

 me as one of the prettiest sights which the wide prairies can afford. No wonder 

 that the lonely settler likes the dainty, familiar bird, and in friendly spirit 

 calls it his " prairie pigeon " or " prairie dove." 



The above quotation, from Mr. H. K. Job (1910), furnishes a vivid 

 picture of this useful prairie bird and its arrival in the spring, which 

 occurs at about the time that the last of the ice goes out of the lakes. 

 The beautiful Franklin's gull, or Franklin's rosy gull, as it was first 

 called, is both useful and ornamental throughout the whole summer, 

 and is justly popular in consequence. Although it was described by 

 Swainson and Richardson in Fauna Boreali-Americana, it seems to 

 have been almost wholly unknown by the earlier writers on Ameri- 

 can birds, and was for many years considered a rare bird. It was not 

 until the great western plains began to be settled and cultivated that 

 we began to realize the astonishing abundance of this species and its 

 importance to the agriculturist. 



Nesting. — A breeding colony of Franklin's gulls is one of the most 

 spectacular, most interesting, and most beautiful sights in the realm 

 of North American ornithology. The man who has never seen one 

 has something yet to live for — a sight which once seen is never to 

 be forgotten. No written words can convey any adequate idea of 

 the beautiful picture presented by countless thousands of exquisite 

 birds, of such delicate hues and gentle habits, in all the activities of 

 their closely populated communities. For parts of two seasons we 

 had followed their elusive lines of flight over many miles of prairie 

 and plain. We had seen them flying out in loose straggling flocks 

 in the morning as they scattered over the prairies to feed and seen 



