SABINE'S GULL. 235 



with impetuosity towards those who approached their nests, 

 and when one was killed, its mate, though frequently fired at, 

 continued on the wing close to the spot. The birds were 

 observed to collect their food from the sea-beach, standing 

 near the edge of the water, and gleaning the marine insects 

 which were cast on the shore. When newly killed, the plu- 

 mage of the under parts had a deHcate pink blush. 



Like most of the black-headed members of this group, Sabine's 

 Gull displays a preference for inland waters, especially in the nest- 

 ing season, though it never builds far away from the sea. Its 

 breeding area lies in the Far North, near the shores of the Arctic 

 Ocean; but in winter it ranges to the New England coasts and 

 to the Great Lakes. It is not common, however, so far south; 

 probably more examples have been seen about the mouth of the 

 Bay of Fundy than elsewhere along our shores. 



Note. — Nuttall gave a place in his work to the Little Gull 

 {Larus mimitus) ; but the claim of this species to be included in 

 our fauna has been disputed by recent authorities, and the name 

 has been omitted from the A. O. U. " Check-List." It has been 

 given, however, in the " History of N. A. Birds," and in Ridgeway's 

 " Manual;" and the bird's right to be mentioned in all American 

 ornithological works lias now been finally settled by Mr. William 

 Butcher's authentic statement that one example was captured on 

 Long Island in 1887. 



