THE RING-BILLED GULL. 



4 



(^ HE Ring-billed Gull is a com- 

 mon species througliout east- 

 ern North America, breeding 

 '^-^~ throughout the northern tier 

 of the United States, whose northern 

 border is the limit of its summer 

 home. As a rule in winter it is found 

 in Illinois and south to the Gulf of 

 Mexico. It is an exceedingly vorac- 

 ious bird, continually skimming over 

 the surface of the water in search of 

 its finny prey, and often following 

 shoals of fish to great distances. The 

 birds congregate in large numbers at 

 their breeding places, which are rocky 

 islands or headlands in the ocean. 

 Most of the families of Gulls are some- 

 what migratory, visiting northern 

 regions in summer to rear their young. 

 The following lines give with remark- 

 able fidelity the wing habits and 

 movements of this tireless bird: 



" On nimble wing the gull 

 Sweeps booming liy, intent to cull 

 Voracious, from the billows' breast, 

 Marked far away, his destined feast. 

 Behold him now, deep plunging, dip 

 His sunny pinion's sable tip 

 In the green wave ; now highly skim 

 With wheeling flight the water's brim; 

 Wave in blue sky his silver sail 

 Aloft, and frolic with the gale, 

 Or sink again his breast to lave, 

 And float upon the foaming wave. 

 Oft o'er his form jour eyes may roam. 

 Nor know him from the feathery foam, 

 Nor 'mid the rolling waves, your ear 

 On yelling blasl his clamor hear." 



This Gull lives principally on fish, 

 but also greedily devours insects. He 

 also picks up small animals or animal 

 substances with which he meets, and, 

 like the vulture, devours them even in a 

 putrid condition. He walks well and 

 quickly, swims bouyantly, h'ing in the 

 water like an air bubble, and dives with 

 facility, but to no great depth. 



As the breeding time approaches 

 the Gulls begin to assemble in flocks, 

 uniting to form a numerous host 

 Even upon our own shores their nest- 

 ing places are often occupied by many 

 hundred pairs, whilst further north 

 they congregate in countless multi- 

 tudes. They literally cover the rocks 

 on which their nests are placed, the 

 brooding parents pressing against each 

 other. 



Wilson says that the Gull, when 

 riding bouyantly upon the waves and 

 weaving a sportive dance, is employed 

 by the poets as an emblem of purity, 

 or as an accessory to the horrors of a 

 storm, by his shrieks and wild piercing 

 cries. In his habits he is the vulture 

 of the ocean, while in grace of motion 

 and beauty of plumage he is one of 

 the most attractive of the splendid 

 denizens of the ocean and lakes. 



The Ring-billed Gull's nest varies 

 with localities. Where there is grass' 

 and sea weed, these are carefully 

 heaped together, but where these fail 

 the nest is of scanty material. Two 

 to four large oval eggs of brownish 

 green or greenish brown, spotted with 

 grey and brown, are hatched in three 

 or four weeks, the young appearing in 

 a thick covering of speckled down. 

 If born on the ledge of a high rock, 

 the chicks remain there until their 

 wings enable them to leave it, but if 

 they come from the shell on the sand 

 of the beach they trot about like little 

 chickens. During the first few days 

 they are fed with half-digested food 

 from the parents' crops, and then with 

 freshly caught fish. 



The Gull rarely flies alone, though 

 occasionally one is seen far away from 

 the water soaring in majestic solitude 

 above the tall buildings of the citv. 



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