130 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



according to Audubon and Nuttall, is a barking akak kakak. Every one 

 must be familiar with the Sea-gull's scream, but it is difficult to describe in 

 syllables. Its food, like that of gulls in general, consists of small fry, 

 dead fish, and any floating refuse w'hich it can pick up. It is sometimes 

 found feeding on carrion at a considerable distance from water. When 

 securing live fish, it plunges its head and neck under water, either when 

 dropping from the air, or resting on the shore, but it never seems to dive 

 like a Kingfisher or Fish-hawk. I have seen it standing on a sandy beach, 

 in shallow water, devouring the small fishes w^iich were swimming about 

 it, till it had swallowed upward of 50, as was proved by killing and dissect- 

 ing the bird. It is probable that the fish destroyed by this bird are mostly 

 small fry which have no value except as food for other fish, and I am inclined 

 to believe that its principal food consists of dead, or disabled fish, or of 

 refuse which would pollute the water and shore. Hence, it can be regarded 

 as a beneficial species, especially when we consider its esthetic importance. 

 The lake or seashore without its graceful gulls and terns w-ould lose much 

 of its charm. 



Nest and eggs. The Herring gull places its nest on the ground or a 

 shelf of rock, and occasionally in a scrubby bush or tree. It prefers to 

 nest on islands, probably to escape the attacks of marauding animals. Tlie 

 nest is composed of grasses, moss, and seaw^eed; and contains two or three 

 eggs, varying in color from greenish or bluish white to brownish olive, \\'ith 

 irregular spots, blotches and lines of brown and blackish. In the Adiron- 

 dacks the eggs are laid from the ist to the ?oth of Mav. 



-toto" 



Larus delawarensis Ord 



Riug-biUcd Gull 



Plate s 



Larus delawarensis Ord. Guthrie's Geography, Am. Ed. 2. 1815. p. 310 

 Larus z o n o r h y n c h u s DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1S44. pt 2, p. 308, fig. 282, 285 

 Larus delawarensis A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 54 



ddawaren'sis, of Delaware 



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

 pure white; mantle light pearl-blue; primaries tipped with white, except 



