THE SHORT-BILLED GULL. 



739 



Authorities. — L. sucklcyi, Lawr.. Lawrence, Ann. L}c. X. H. N. Y. W. 

 i8'58, 264. ! Rissa scptcutrionalis, Lawrence, Ann. Lye. X. H. X. Y. \'l. 1858, 

 265 [Aiict. C. \V. Richmond]. Lonis brachyrliyiichns, Chapman, Bull. Am. Mus. 

 N. H. HL 129. 155. (T). C&S. Rh. Kk. b". E' 



Specimens. — ( U. of \V. ) Prov. B. E. 



A CERTAIN childish innocence and simplicity appears to distinguish 

 these birds from the more sophisticated Herrings and Glaucous-wings. They 

 are the small fry of the great gull companies which throng our borders 

 in winter, allowed to share, indeed, when Petro dumps a rich load of 

 restaurant waste, but expected to take a grumbling back seat when the 

 supply of food is more limited. One may 

 see at a glance that they are not fitted for 

 competition. Their bills are not only 

 shorter, but much more delicately propur- 

 tioned than those of the other gulls; while 

 their gabbling, duck-like notes oppose a 

 mild alto to the screams and high trumpet- 

 ings of their larger congeners. 



Gulls of this antl allied species are quick 

 to appreciate the advantages of protected 

 areas. Along the water front, or near 

 steamers, where shooting would not be al- 

 lowed, they become very bold. Short-bills, 

 however, do not stand about on palings, 

 piles, and roofs, as do the Glaucous-wings, 

 but rest, instead, almost exclusively on the 

 water. Thus, if one attempts to bait the 



Pholo by the Author. 



gulls with an offering of bread laid on the 



"HOVERIXG DOVES." 



SlIOKT-BILLED CULLS OFF JACKSON STREET 

 WHARF, SEATTLE. 



wharf-rail, the larger gulls will begin to 



line the neighboring rails and posts, craning 



their necks hungrily, or snatching exposed fragments; but the Short-bills 



will settle upon the water and draw near to the piling below, content to catch 



such crumbs as fall from the high-set table. 



Away from the city the gulls becimie increasingh- warv. f(ir no other 

 reason than that sneaks with guns will do what the law forbids, as often 

 as they think themselves safe from observation. Once a gull is killed or 

 wounded, its companions hover about it with jjiteous cries, momentarily 

 forgetful of their own danger, or indifferent to it, as they urge their fallen 

 coinrade to escape. This sympathetic trait is. of course, taken advantage 

 of by the Fourth-of-July sportsman ( ? ) whose ijnly requirements are noise 

 and something to shoot at. 



