34 WATER BIRDS 
49. WESTERN GULL. — Larus occidentalis. 
Famity : The Gulls and Terns. 
Length : 25.50. 
Adults in Summer: Head, neck, lower parts, rump, and tail white ; 
mantle dark slaty gray ; wing-quills black, with large spots of white. 
Angle of lower mandible very conspicuous ; depth of bill through 
mandible greater than at base. 
Adults in Winter : Plumage similar to that of summer, except that top 
of head and nape are streaked with dark gray-brown. 
Young: Upper parts brownish gray mottled with white ; quills and tail- 
feathers black, tipped with white; under parts grayish; sides mot- 
tled with white. 
Douny Young: Ashy white ; head mottled with distinct black patches ; 
upper parts more or less mottled with dark ash. 
Geographical Distribution : Pacific coast of North America from Lower 
California to British Columbia. 
Breeding Range: From Coronado Islands to British Columbia ; at Santa 
Catalina, Santa Barbara, and San Clementi. 
Breeding Season: Approximately, May 1 to August 1. 
vest: Of weeds ; on rocky ledges. 
Eggs: 2to 3; light olive, spotted with umber. Size 2.76 X 1.94. 
Most conspicuous because everywhere present, most 
interesting because of his very wickedness, is the variety 
of gull found on the Farallones, and everywhere on the 
California coast. He is known as Larus occidentalis, 
and is the only species that breeds on those islands. 
The pretty herring gulls of our harbors are quite differ- 
ent in habit from this voracious plunderer. 
Larus occidentalis is a degenerate. ‘Too lazy to fish 
for himself, he steals from whomsoever he can. If the 
victim be a diving bird who has come to the surface 
with a struggling fish in his beak, the Western Gull will 
hover over him, compelling him to dive again and again, 
until, exhausted, he abandons the food he has had no 
