2oS BIRDS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 



FAM. LARID^ 



GULLS, TERNS. 



LARUS ATRICILLA. Linn. 

 Laughixg Gull. 



Adtdi Male. — Bill, lake red ; hood, grayish black; nape, white, 

 forming a sort of collar; upper parts, pearl-gray; beneath, white; 

 outer primaries, dark brown ; tail, white ; feet, black, with red on 

 the webs ; iris, dark brown. 



Length 15.50, wing 12.50, tail 5, tarsus i.go, bill 1.40. 



About the time that the visitors who have been spending the 

 winter at Nassau begin to leave for the north, the Laughing Gull 

 appears, and may be daily seen passing in and out among the 

 numerous vessels anchored in the harbor. We found it abundant 

 throughout the whole of the Bahamas after April, and at Liagua it 

 was evidently breeding, although our search for its eggs proved 

 unsuccessful. 



Fig. Aud. Bds. N. A., Vol. VII. pi. 443. 



