RING-BILLED GULL. 47 



In Southern Ontario it is seen only during the winter. When 

 Hamilton Bay becomes frozen over, there is always a patch of open 

 water where the city sewer empties into the bay, and there for several 

 years past two or three Herring Gulls have daily resorted, to feed on 

 the rich morsels which come down from the city. They become com- 

 paratively tame, and being regarded by the " boys " as belonging to 

 the place, are not much disturbed. The birds in possession of the 

 spot agree about the division of the spoil, but should a stranger seek 

 to share it, he is at once attacked and driven off ere he has time to 

 taste the dainties. 



They arrive here about the end of October, and leave early in 

 April. 



LARUS DELAWARENSIS Ord. 

 19. Ring-billed Gull. (54) 



AdtiJf pi It mage precisely like that of the Hei-ring Gull, and its changes 

 substantially the same ; bill, greeniKh-yeWow , encircled with a hlacl: hand near 

 the end, usually complete, sometimes defective ; the tip and most of the cutting 

 edges of the bill, yellow; in higli condition, the angle of the mouth and a small 

 spot beside the black, red; feet, olivaceoii.'i, obscured with dusky or bluish, and 

 partly yellow ; the webs, bright chrome. Notably smaller than argentafv.s : 

 length, usually 18-20 inches; extent, about 48; wing, about 15; bill, under 2, 

 and only about h deep at the protuberance ; tarsus, aljout 2, obviously longei- 

 than the middle toe. 



Hab. — North America at large ; south in winter to Cuba and Mexico. 



Nest, on the ground, a hollow lined with grass ; sometimes on cliffs of rocks. 



Eggs, three, dark cream color, blotched with purple, umber and black. 



This is one of the common gulls which frequent Lake Ontario 

 during the winter, whose numbers help to make up the vast crowd 

 which is seen assembled on the edge of the ice at the western 

 extremity of the lake, or in Hamilton Bay, near the canal. 



In all stages of plumage it bears a strong resemblance to the 

 Herring Gull, but the ring round the bill and its smaller size serve 

 as distinguishing marks. 



This is, perhaps, the most abundant of the gulls. It has been 

 taken at Toronto and other points in Southern Ontario, but only in 

 the winter, its breeding ground being rather farther north. It 

 breeds in the interior and on both shores, and its nesting places are 

 spoken of as nurseries of very great extent. Mr. Stebbins, who 

 visited an island of about an acre in extent, in Devil's Lake, Dakota, 



