32 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



V- 



[50.] Siberian Gull. Larus affims. 



This bird does not nest in North America, and has a place on our list, by its 

 accidental occurrence in Greenland. It is an Old World species and its nesting 

 habits and eggs are like those of the Herring Gull. 

 51. Herring Gull. Larus argentatus. 



Range. Whole of the Northern Hemisphere, breeding from Maine and British 

 Columbia northward and wintering south to the Gulf. 



This Gull, which 



formerly was No. 51a, a ^ - _~ 



sub-species of the Euro- !>"" ^ " 



pean variety, is now 

 regarded as identical 



with it, and is no longer jjt 1 % ^ ^ 



a sub-species. It is 

 twenty-four inches in 

 length, has a light gray 

 mantle and black prim- 

 aries which are tipped 

 with white. The Herring 

 Gulls nest in colonies 

 in favorable localities 

 throughout their range, 

 chiefly on the coasts and 

 islands. A few pairs 

 also nest on islands in 

 some of the inland 

 bodies of fresh water. 

 Except in places where [Buffj 



they are continually 



molested, when they will build in trees, they place their nests on the ground, 

 either making no nest on the bare sand, or building a bulky nest of seaweed in 

 the grass on higher parts of the island. They lay three eggs of a grayish color 

 marked with brown. In rare cases unspotted bluish white eggs are found. 

 Size 2.8 x 1.7. Data. Deer Is. Maine, June 11, 1891. Three eggs ; nest of 

 weeds and grass on high portion of the island. Collector, R. N. Knight. 



52. Vega Gull. Larus vegx. 



[Brownish buff.J 



Range. Coast of Alaska, 

 south in winter to Califor- 

 nia. 



Similar to the Herring 

 Gull, but with the mantle 

 darker, but not so dark as 

 in the Western Gull. The 

 nesting habits and eggs 

 are the same as those of the 

 Herring Gull, except that 

 in a series, the eggs of the 

 Vega will average a little 

 darker in ground color. It 

 nests during May on the 

 coasts and islands of Ber- 

 ing Sea, placing its eggs 

 in a hollow on the ground, 

 Size 2.75 x 1.65. Data.- 

 Yukon River, June 20, 

 1899. Nest a large mass of 

 weeds on an island in the 

 river. Collector, J. W^eston. 



