SABINE'S GULL. 235 



with impetuosity towards those who approached their nests, 

 and when one was killed, its mate, though frequently fired at, 

 continued on the wing close to the spot. The birds were 

 observ^ed to collect their food from the sea-beach, standing 

 near the edge of the water, and gleaning the marine insects 

 which were cast on the shore. When newly killed, the plu- 

 mage of the under parts had a delicate pink blush. 



Like most of the black-headed members of this group, Sabine's 

 Gull displays a preference for inland waters, especially in the nest- 

 ing season, though it never builds far away from the sea. Its 

 breeding area lies in the Far North, near the shores of the Arctic 

 Ocean; but in winter it ranges to New England and to the Great 

 Lakes. It is not common, however, so far south ; probably more 

 examples have been seen about the mouth of the Bay of Fundy 

 than elsewhere along: our shores. 



Note. — Nuttall gave a place in his work to the Little Gull 

 {Lams minutus) ; but while the bird was mentioned in the " His- 

 tory of N. A. Birds," and in Ridgway's " Manual," it was omitted 

 from the first edition of " The A. O. U. Check List," though it has 

 been recognized in the edition recently issued. Examples have 

 been reported from Bermuda and Long Island, but the bird cannot 

 be considered more than an accidental straggler from the eastern 

 hemisphere. 



