GULLS 51 



Geog. Dist. — North America at large, wintering from Long Island to Cuba 

 and Mexico, and breeding from Newfoundland, Minnesota and North Dakota 

 northward. 



County Records. — Cumberland ; I received over 200 in the flesh in the fall 

 of 1899, and they staid until late in the winter about Portland Harbor, 

 (Lord) ; quite a common transient, (Brown, C. B. P., p. 34). Hancock; fall 

 migrant, have one from Bucksport, (Knight). Knox; migrant, (Norton). 

 Waldo ; fall migrant, seemingly not rare in the bay at that time, (Knight). 

 Washington ; common in migration, (Boardman). 



While probably most generally observed along the coast in 

 October and November, a few may be seen through the winter, 

 and they again occur somewhat more generally in March and 

 April though not so many as in fall. They nest in colonies 

 beyond our limit in their northern breeding grounds along the 

 coast and also about many interior ponds and lakes, placing 

 the nest usually on some island, either on the ground or on 

 cliffs. Three eggs taken at Stump Lake, North Dakota, June 

 13, 1893, were in a nest of grass and weeds which was placed 

 on the ground on an island. These eggs are olive brown, spot- 

 ted and lined with black and measure 2.35 x 1.64, 2.38 x 1.69, 

 2.40 X 1.69. A series of these eggs show fully as much vari- 

 ation in coloration as the eggs of the Herring Gull. The food 

 in winter does not differ materially from that of the other 

 Gulls. In the mid-west in summer they have been recorded as 

 feeding on newly plowed land and even following the plough 

 somewhat closely, picking up worms, grasshoppers, grubs and 

 other insects. 



58. Larus atricilla Linn. Laughing Gull. 



Plumage in summer adults : head and throat sooty slate ; back and wings 

 pearl gray ; primaries black, inner ones white tipped ; throat and breast 

 sometimes with a slight pink suffusion ; otherwise white, bill red. Plumage 

 in winter adults : top of head and ear coverts grayish streaked, otherwise as 

 in summer. Immature plumage : above fuscous, more or less white margin 

 to feathers ; below white, more or less dusky tinged ; tail grayish, black- 

 tipped. Wing 12.50 to 13.50 ; culmen 1.70 ; tarsus 1.95. 



Geog. Dist. — Breeding range extending from Texas and Florida to Maine, 

 while its winter range extends from South Carolina to South America. 



