LARIDA:: GULLS AND TERNS 
Male and Female alike in all the species ; they breed in colonies. 
Gulls are plumper and stouter than terns and generally larger; 
gulls have rounded, terns forked tails; gulls fly with their bills 
pointed forwards, terns with their bills pointed downwards. In the 
breeding plumage the top of the head is black in the terns. The 
Immature of all the gulls havea black tiptothe tail. Gulls alight 
on the surface of the water and pick up their food; both rest and 
feed on the beaches and sand bars, often in large flocks. The gulls 
commonly seen on our coast in winter are the Kittiwake, Great 
Black-backed and Herring; the Ring-billed is a rare migrant; 
Bonaparte’s is acommon spring and fall migrant ; the Laughing is 
asummer resident. The terns are summer residents, excepting the 
Black, which is a fall migrant. 
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