GULLS AND TERNS: Family Laridae [2.91] 



ground was strewn with remains of these insects. After half an hour or 

 so had been spent in the colony, we were glad to get away from the din 

 and smell, although it was an interesting and fascinating place. 



After the breeding season, as soon as the young are able to fly, the 

 gulls commence to scatter. In late July or early August, individual 

 California Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, and sometimes other species appear 

 in the high mountain lakes of Oregon, where they cause great consterna- 

 tion among the hatchery men engaged in releasing trout in these lakes. 

 Such observations and stomach examinations as we have been able to 

 make, however, indicate that the gulls gather there to feed on the 

 abundance of wind-blown insects found on the surface of the lakes at 

 that season and to perform their usual office of scavengers along the shore 

 line. By the first of October, the numbers of California Gulls in eastern 

 Oregon are very greatly depleted, although scattered individuals and 

 small groups may be found through the entire winter where open water 

 is available. In late July these gulls commence to appear in increasing 

 numbers in western Oregon, on the Willamette and Columbia Rivers near 

 Portland, and on the coast, until by October they are one of the abundant 

 gulls found there. Gulls banded in the Klamath colonies have been taken 

 frequently on the Lincoln County coast, showing a definite north and 

 west movement from the breeding grounds. 



Like all other gulls, the California Gulls are scavengers, particularly 

 during the winter. We have made no stomach examinations of this 

 species, and the only stomach available, taken June 2.1 at Portland, con- 

 tained bones of one catfish. Undoubtedly the species is of economic 

 benefit in the vicinity of its great colonies, where remains of ground 

 squirrels, mice, crayfish, carp, small minnows, grasshoppers, crickets, 

 and other insects indicate its omniverous food habits. A monument to 

 this species was erected in Salt Lake City many years ago in commemora- 

 tion of its destruction of crickets. 



Ring-billed Gull: 



Lams delaivarensis Ord 



DESCRIPTION. ''Adults: Mantle light pearl gray; bill greenish yellow, crossed near 

 end by a distinct black band, tip yellow or orange; eyelids vermilion, iris pale 

 yellow; feet pale yellow, sometimes tinged with greenish. Young: upper parts 

 dusky, feathers bordered and marked with grayish buff or whitish; under parts 

 white, spotted along sides with grayish brown; quills blackish, the shorter ones 

 gray at base and tipped with white." (Bailey) Downy young: "The downy young 

 have at least two distinct color phases, both of which are often found in the same 

 nest. In the gray phase the upper parts are 'smoke gray' or 'pale smoke gray,' in 

 the buffy phase the upper parts are 'pinkish buff' or 'vinaceous buff.' They are 

 lighter below and almost white on the breast; they are distinctly spotted with 'hair 

 brown' or 'sepia' on the head and neck, and more faintly mottled with the same 

 color on the back." (Bent) Si^e: "Length 18-10, wing 13.60-15.75, bill 1.55- 



