36 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



[60.1] Little Gull. Larus minutus. 



This Gull is the smallest of the family; 

 it is a European bird, and has acci- 

 dentally strayed to our shores but a few 

 times. Its plumage is similar to that of 

 the Bonaparte Gull but the bill is red. 

 It breeds in the marshes around the 

 Baltic Sea, placing its nest of dead vege- 

 tation on the highest parts of the marsh. 

 They lay three eggs of a greenish gray 

 color marked with dark brown and lilac. 

 Size 1.75 x 1.25. 



[Greenish gray.] 



61. Ross Gull. Rhodostethia rosea. 



Range. The Arctic regions, south in winter to Alaska, Greenland, northern 

 Europe and Asia. 



This beautiful bird is the most rare of all the Gulls, being very difficult to 

 obtain because of its extreme northerly distribution. It is in form and plumage 

 like Bonaparte Gull, with the exceptions that the head is white, there being a 

 narrow black collar around the neck, the tail is wedge shaped, and the whole 

 under parts from the chin to the tail are rosy in the breeding plumage. The 

 nests and eggs remain still undiscovered, although Nansen, in August 1896, 

 found a supposed breeding ground in Franz Josef Land, because of the num- 

 bers of the birds, but found no nests. 



62. Sabine Gull. Xema sabinii. 



[Greenish brown.] 



Range. Arctic regions, breeding from Alaska 

 and Greenland northward, and wintering south 

 to New England. 



A handsome bird, having the slaty hood 

 bordered behind with a black ring, the primar- 

 ies black, white tipped, and the tail slightly 

 forked. They breed abundantly on the marshes 

 of northern Alaska and Greenland, nesting the 

 same as others of the species. The two or three 

 eggs are laid in June. They are greenish 

 brown in color and are marked with dark 

 brown. Size 1.75 x 1.25. Data. Hudson Bay, 

 August 1, 1894. Eggs laid on the ground in 

 the moss; no nest except the hollow in the moss. 

 Collector, G. Comer. 



