THE TERNS, SKIMMERS, AND GULLS 



2283 



COMMON GUI,!,. 



together with the common tern, 

 the female generally lays three or 

 four eggs, which may be distin- 

 guished from those of the former 

 by the orange-red, instead of yel- 

 low, color of their yolks. Whereas 

 the species just mentioned is but 

 a very occasional visitor there, the 

 black-headed gull (L. ridibundus) 

 is a common denizen of the British 

 coasts, showing an especial par- 

 tiality for flat shores during the 

 winter, but in the spring seeking 

 marshes for the purpose of breed- 

 ing. In this species the head and 

 upper part of the neck are dark 

 brown, and the beak lake red in 

 the summer dress; but in the Med- 

 iterranean black-headed gull {L. 

 melanocephalus) the head is jet 

 black, and the beak coral red, with 

 a dark band in front of the angle, 



while the primary quills, in fully adult examples, are white, instead of parti -colored. 



In America the group is represented by the laughing gull (L. atricilla), distinguished 



from the British .species by its larger dimensions, and characterized by having the 



first three outer primaries black, with minute white tips. The largest member of 



the group is the great 



black-headed gull {L. 



ichthyaetus) , ranging 



eastward from the Levant 



to China, and northward 



to Mongolia. In length 



the male may measure as 



much as twenty - seven 



inches (against sixteen 



inches in the black- 

 headed gull); and in the 



breeding plumage the 



adult has a jet-black head 



and upper neck, the beak 



orange red, passing into 



red at the angle of the 



mandible, the first pri- 

 mary mainly white, with 



a black streak along the HERRING GUI,!.. 



