738 THE SHORT-BILLED GULL. 
innocence which the milliner’s art prepared, was still too eloquent of mercen- 
ary betrayal and slaughter to let my lady's face speak its own message of 
innocence and beauty. It will take long years yet for the devastated vales and 
island fastnesses to recover, if they can, from the thoughtless requisition of 
a woman's fancy. 
No. 2096. 
SHORT-BILLED GULL. 
A. O. U. No. 55. Larus brachyrhynchus Rich. 
Synonym.—American Mew Gutt. 
Description.—Adults in summer: Mantle pearl gray; remaining plumage, 
except quills, white; primaries chiefly black terminally in decreasing ratio from the 
Ist to the 7th, all but the 1st white-tipped; 1st with large subterminal blotch 
of white some 2.00 long, longer on outer web, pierced but not divided by black of 
shaft; 2nd with subterminal area of white plainly separated into spots by black of 
shaft, and with a wedge of gray on inner web; 3rd without corresponding spot 
but with large white space on inner web between the subterminal black and the 
basal gray; bill greenish yellow, brightening (more yellow) on tip; feet and legs 
dull bluish green, webs yellow. In highest nuptial plumage the evelids, edges of 
gape, and the tomia become bright orange-yellow; the bill hoary glaucescent on 
basal portion; the feet a brighter bluish green, the webs bright yellow; and a 
faint rosy flush sometimes appears on feathers of underparts. ddults in winter: 
Duller; the head and neck all around, with chest, more or less mottled with dusky. 
Young of the year: Head and neck, rump, and underparts, grayish brown, 
mottled with dusky; back pearl-gray with duller edgings; wing-coverts and inner 
secondaries dusky with lighter edgings; primaries nearly uniform brownish black 
thruout; tail pale gray, mottled with dusky basally, brownish black distally, nar- 
rowly tipped with whitish; bill flesh-colored basally, blackening terminally; feet 
and legs light yellow. Approaching maturity: Primaries still brownish black 
without white tips, but with indications of subterminal white spots; tail with 
blackish subterminal band. Length of adult: 16.50-18.00 (419.1-457.2); wing 
14.00 (355.6); bill 1.45 (36.8); depth of bill at angle .45 (11.4); tarsus 1.95 
(49.5). 
Recognition Marks.—Crow size; small weak bill; feet greenish yellow. Re- 
quires careful discrimination from possible Mew Gull—L. canus (H) q. v. 
Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. Nest: on ground near marsh, of 
moss, ete. Eggs: 2 or 3, colored as in other species. Avy. size, 2.28 x 1.58 (57.9 x 
40.1). 
General Range.—Breeding in Arctic and subarctic America, chiefly in the 
interior; wintering from southern Alaska to southern California. 
Range in Washington.—Abundant migrant in late fall and early spring on 
Puget Sound; of variable abundance in winter. 
