Long-winged Swimmers 



Gulls and Terns 



(Family Laridce) 



The Gulls 



(Subfamily Larince) 



Bills of moderate length, the upper mandible not swollen at 

 the tip like the jaegers, but curved over the end of the lower 

 mandible. Wings long, broad, strong and pointed, though their 

 flight is less graceful than a tern's. Tail feathers usually of about 

 equal length. Sexes alike, but the plumage, in which white, 

 brown, black, and pearl-blue predominate, varies greatly with 

 age and season. In flight the bill points forward, not downward 

 like a tern's. Gulls pick their food from the surface of the sea 

 or shore, whereas terns plunge for theirs. Gulls are the better 

 swimmers, and pass the greater part of their lives at sea, coming 

 to shore chiefly to nest in large colonies. 



Kittiwake Gull. 



Glaucous Gull, or Burgomaster. 



Iceland Gull. 



Great Black-backed Gull. 



Herring Gull. 



Ring-billed Gull. 



Laughing Gull. > 



Bonaparte's Gull. 



Terns 



(Subfamily Sterince) 



Small birds of the coast rather than the open sea. Bill 

 straight, not hooked, and sharply pointed. Outer tail feathers 

 longer than the middle ones ; tails usually very deeply forked. 

 Legs placed farther back than a gull's, and form of body more 

 slender and trim. Great length and sharpness of wing give a 

 dash to their flight that the gull's lacks. Bill held point down- 

 ward, like a mosquito's, when tern is searching for food. Plu- 

 mage scarcely differs in the sexes, but it varies greatly with the 

 season and age. Usually the top of head is black ; in the rest of 

 the plumage pearl grays, browns, and white predominate. Tails 



