THE BIEDS OP HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 173 

 LARUS ATRICILLA Linnaeus 

 LAUGHING GULL, GAVIOTA, PIGEON DE LA MEB, 



Larus atricilla Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, vol. 1, 175S, p. 136 (Bahama 

 Islands) . 



Gavia ridibunda Brisson, Ornith., vol. 6, 1760, pp. 192-195, pi. 18, fig. 1 

 (" S. Domingue"). 



Larus atricilla, Cory, Birds Haiti and San Domingo, March, 1885, pp. 177-178 

 (listed) ; Cat. West Indian Birds, 1892, p. 82 (Haiti, Dominican Republic).— 

 Tippenhauer, Die Insel Haiti, 1892, p. 323 (listed). — Bond, Proc. Acad. Nat. 

 Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 80, 1928, p. 497 (Port-au-Prince, and interior saline 

 lakes). 



Chroicocephalus atricilla, Beebe, Zool. Soc. Bull., vol. 30, 1927, p. 138 ; Be- 

 neath Tropic Seas, 1928, p. 217 (Haiti). 



Larus atricilla atricilla, Danforth, Auk, 1929, p. 364 (coast). 



Fairly common; of regular occurrence but not as yet recorded 

 breeding. 



In the Dominican Republic Abbott collected two laughing gulls 

 at Catalinita Island September 11, 1919, that are adults in winter 

 dress as shown by the white tail and gray alula only faintly marked 

 with dusky. One is still molting about the head. He found the 

 species at Saona Island September 12 to 18, and from October 1 to 

 6 of the same year reported it common at the eastern end of Lake 

 Enriquillo. Wetmore recorded two in the little bay at the mouth of 

 the Rio Ozama at Santo Domingo City, May 3, 1927, and in a cafe 

 at Sanchez saw a crudely mounted specimen suspended by a wire 

 from the ceiling that was said to have been killed at Matanzas. The 

 latter was a young individual with spots still persisting on the wing 

 coverts. Danforth saw one in the harbor of Santo Domingo City 

 June 14, and two at San Pedro de Macoris July 4, 1927. Brisson 

 in 1760 describes the laughing gull from a specimen secured by 

 Chervain for de Reaumur, presumably in Haiti. Abbott shot two 

 males and one female, all in full nuptial plumage, at Fond Parisien 

 on the fitang Saumatre May 5, 1920. Beebe reports one seen in 1927, 

 apparently near Port-au-Prince. Bond saw one at Port-au-Prince 

 in July, 1928, and found them on the saline lakes of the Cul-de-Sac 

 Plain. Danforth observed a few in Port-au-Prince harbor July 27, 

 six at Les Salines July 30, and recorded many off Mole St. Nicolas 

 July 27, 1927 on the authority of F. P. Mathews. Cory recorded a 

 few individuals but does not state whether they were seen at the 

 eastern or western end of the island. 



The laughing gull is found along coasts, and from Abbott's 

 records on the fitang Saumatre and Lake Enriquillo comes also to 

 the saline lakes of the Cul-de-Sac region. No breeding colonies are 

 2134—31 12 



