[ 196 ] BIRDSOFOREGON 



described by Dr. Jonathan Dwight (1901) as "much like that of Sterna hirundo, 

 yellowish with dusky mottling above." (Bent) Si%e: "Length iz-14, wing io.z5, 

 bill 1.2.0." (Bailey) Nest: In trees, 4 to zo feet from ground, built of twigs, lined 

 more or less with grass and mosses. Eggs: 2. to 4, ground color brown or dark buff, 

 spotted and blotched with various shades of brown and drab. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds in timbered regions of northern Canada and Alaska. 

 Winters on both coasts, on Pacific Coast from Gray's Harbor, Washington, south- 

 ward to Peru. In Oregon: Common but erratic migrant on coast and in great alkaline 

 marshes in Lake (Goose, Crump, and Guano Lakes) and Klamath (numerous 

 records) Counties. 



BEAUTIFUL LITTLE Bonaparte's Gull, the smallest and daintiest of the gulls 

 known in Oregon, is one of the most graceful of birds, and nothing more 

 attractive is to be seen along the coast than a huge flight of these little 

 gulls. The slow, leisurely, effortless beat of the bird's wings carries 

 it along at a surprising speed as it travels up and down the coast or 

 through the interior of the State in its migratory flights. In the spring 

 its black head and beautifully tinted rosy breast set it apart from all 

 other species of gulls found in the State. It is likely to be seen in any 

 part of Oregon but is more frequently found on the alkaline lakes of the 

 interior or on the more open bays and estuaries, where it flies aimlessly 

 and leisurely about in a ternlike flight, picking up insects or small marine 

 forms of life from the surface of the water. 



Newberry (1857) first recorded this tiny gull from Oregon, and Bendire 

 (Brewer 1875) found it abundant at Harney Lake. Since then it has been 

 reported frequently. It is more regular as a fall migrant on the coast 

 from August to December (August zo to December 2.8, both Tillamook 

 County) but appears also from April to May (April 5 to May z, both 

 Tillamook County). In the interior of the State it migrates north in the 

 spring from April to May (March 31 to May 15, both Klamath County), 

 with occasional stragglers remaining into June (June 13, Klamath County, 

 Jewett and Gabrielson). In the fall, it appears in July (July 2.4, Deschutes 

 County) and is present until November (November zz, Klamath County, 

 latest date). 



The few gulls whose stomachs have been examined fed almost entirely 

 on crustaceans and isopods while in the State. In fact, four stomachs 

 collected by R. C. Steele on Tillamook Bay, May i, contained practically 

 nothing but the small isopod Exosphaeroma oregonensis that resembles the 

 common sowbug. One stomach contained 42., one Z48, one 141, and one 

 18 of these creatures. A stomach collected in November i9zo at Netarts 

 Bay contained bits of fish and an aquatic beetle. Certainly the feeding 

 habits of Bonaparte's Gulls in this territory cannot cause any possible 

 harm from an economic standpoint, and there is no excuse whatever for 

 any persecution of these little gulls like that sometimes carried out by 

 sportsmen and fishermen against the larger species. 



