RING-BILLED GULL 



54. Larus delawarensis. 18 in. 



Adults in summer. White with pearl gray mantle; 

 ends of outer primaries bluck with white tips; eye yel- 

 low; feet and bill greenish-yellow, the latter crossed by 

 a black band near the tip. In winter, the head and 

 neck are streaked with grayish. Young birds are mot- 

 tled brownish-gray above, and the tail has a band of 

 blackish near the end. 



The adults can be distinguished from the Kiitiwakes, 

 which most closely resemble them, by the yellowish feet 

 and white tips to the black primaries. 



Nest. In hollows in the ground, usually in grass. 

 The two or three eggs are gray or brownish gray, 

 strongly marked with black (2.80x1.75). They breed 

 in large colonies, often in company with other gulls 

 and terns. 



Range. Whole or North America, breeding from New 

 Foundland, Dakota and British Columbia northwards, 

 most abundantly in the interior; winters from Northern 

 United States southward. 



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