298 Allen, Kumlien's Gull near Boston. [^^j^ 



Gulls with which they were associated, and the birds themselves 

 were plainly smaller, though the difference in the bills Mas more 

 considerable. One of them flew a short distance while I was 

 watching him, and then the wings (at that distance and seen only 

 for an instant) appeared immaculate. The black on the Herring 

 Gull's primaries is very conspicuous in the closed wing, forming a 

 large blotch, while the spots on the Kumlien's Gulls' wings showed 

 only as marks on the separate feathers. Finally, a gull of this 

 species, presumably one of the two observed by me March 7, was 

 seen by Mr. Wright, March 13, at Fisherman's Beach, Swampscott, 

 the next beach down the coast from King's beach. It identified 

 itself by spreading its wings as it sat in the water off shore. All 

 these birds — or both,* if it be assumed that there were but two 

 seen at different places — were in the adult plumage. 



In connection with this report of Kumlien's Gull, it will be of 

 interest, I think, to note the presence of other northern gulls in 

 somewhat unusual numbers during the past winter. Indeed, the 

 information which I have at hand suggests that neither Larus 

 glaucus nor L. leucopteriis is by any means as rare on the Massa- 

 chusetts coast as the published records would indicate. The 

 scarcity of such records is partly due to the very laudable hesitation 

 on the part of observers to record birds which are only seen, not 

 taken. It so happens, however, that most of these northern gulls 

 which are seen here are found on protected shores or waters, where 

 shooting is prohibited, so that some interesting occurrences must go 

 entirely unrecorded unless the rule — in general very proper — 

 which demands a specimen to back the record is waived in their 

 favor. It is very probable, too, that the gulls in question are now 

 of recent years more abundant here than formerly, for it is certain 

 that the Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls which winter on 

 our coast have increased under the protection afforded them. All 

 the gulls, moreover, are much more approachable when found on 

 protected ground than they Avere formerly, and flocks can be readily 

 scanned in search of the rarer species. After conversation with 

 several observers I have deemed it proper to make some statement 

 concerning the recent occurrences of the Glaucous and Iceland 

 Gulls in ^Massachusetts. The Rev. Horace W. Wright and Dr. 

 Charles W. Townsend, both well known as experienced and careful 



