BIRDS OF NEW YORK I27 



Larus argentatus Pontoppidan 

 Herring Gull 



Plate s 



Larus argentatus Pontoppidan. Danske Atlas. 1763. 1:622 



DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844, pt 2, p. 306, fig. 270, 284, 286 

 Larus argentattis s m i t h s o n i a n u s A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 51a. 



argentd'tus, Lat., silvery 



Description. Adult in summer : Head, neck, tail, and under parts pure 

 white; mantle "gull-blue" about the same shade of pearlblue as in del- 

 awarensis, Ijut darker than in h }' p e r b o r e u s, 1 e u c o p t e r vi s 

 and kumlien i, primaries like the back at base extending successively 

 farther along the center of the feathers and growing nearly white, 

 then comes a black portion varying from a length of 5 inches on 

 the first primary- to a mere spot on the seventh; all the primaries 

 also have rounded white tips, and the first a subapiccil rounded white 

 spot about I inch in diameter, which becomes elongated in older 

 birds and sometimes coalesces with the white tip, making a termi- 

 nal white portion 2 inches in length ; the second primary has a subterminal white 

 spot, such as younger birds possess on the first primary; bill bright chrome 

 with a vermilion spot at the angle; legs and feet pale flesh color. In ivintcr: 

 Head and neck streaked with dusky; bill duller. Nearly mature: Upper 

 parts margined or mottled with gra^'ish; tail with an indefinite subtenninal 

 dusky band. First winter: More or less edged and mottled with duskv; 

 wing and tail feathers brownish black ; often on upper parts patches of pearl- 

 blue; bill flesh color tipped with black. Juvenal plumage: "Above 

 grayish brown with whitish and buft'y edgings; below plumbeous with 

 inconspicuous whitish mottling, the head and neck paler and tending to 

 streaking. The primaries are uniformly brownish, black. The rectrices 

 are similar but basally, and the outer one slightl}', mottled with gravish 

 white. The bill is plumbeous and the feet flesh-colored. Natal down: 

 Grayish above with obscure mottling on the back and black spots on the 

 head and throat, paler below." [Dwight, Attk, 18:58] 



Length 22.5-26 inches; average 24; extent 54-58; wing 16. 5-18; tail 

 7.5; bill 1.95-2.5; depth of bill at angle .7-.85; tarsus 2.3-2.8; middle toe 

 and claw 2.3. 



Field marks. The amateur can scarcely mistake this bird for anv of 

 our other gulls, except the Ring-billed species. The young Iceland and 

 Kumlien gulls are practicall}' of the same size, but the plumage of the 

 present species is much darker, especially on the wings and tail, than in 



