LARUS MACULIPENNIS. 199 



the pampas of Buenos Ayres, where it is simply called Gaviota. In the 

 month of October they congregate in their breeding-places extensive 

 inland marshes, partially overgrown with rushes. The nests are formed 

 of weeds and rushes, placed just above the water and near together, 

 several hundreds being sometimes found within an area of less than one 

 quarter of an acre. The eggs are four in number, large for the bird, 

 obtusely pointed, of a pale clay-colour, thickly spotted at the big end 

 and sparsely on the other parts with black. 



Every morning, at break of day, the Gulls rise up from their nests 

 and hover in a cloud over the marsh, producing so great a noise with 

 their mingled cries that it can be heard distinctly at a distance of two 

 miles. The eggs are considered a great delicacy, resembling those of 

 the Plover in taste and appearance, and are consequently much sought 

 after, so that when the locality near which a gullery is situated becomes 

 inhabited the birds have no chance of rearing their young, as the boys 

 in the neighbourhood ride into the marsh every morning to gather the 

 eggs. The Gulls are, however, very tenacious of their old breeding- 

 places, and continue even after years of persecution to resort to them. 



The young birds are of a pale grey colour, mottled with dull brown, 

 and have a whining querulous cry. The plumage becomes lighter 

 through the autumn and winter, but it is not until the ensuing summer, 

 when the dark brown nuptial hood is assumed, that the young birds 

 acquire the perfect plumage soft grey-blue above, and the white bosom 

 with its lovely pink blush. 



As soon as the young are able to fly the breeding-place is forsaken, 

 the whole concourse leaving in a body, or scattering in all directions 

 over the surrounding country ; and until the following summer their 

 movements depend entirely on food and water. If the weather is dry 

 the Gulls disappear altogether ; and if grasshoppers become abundant 

 the country people wish for rain to bring the Gulls. When it rains then 

 the birds quickly appear, literally from the clouds, and often in such 

 numbers as to free the earth from the plague of devastating insects. 

 It is a fine and welcome sight to see a white cloud of birds settle on the 

 afflicted district ; and at such times their mode of proceeding is so 

 regular that the flock well deserves the appellation of an army. They 

 sweep down with a swift graceful flight and settle on the earth with 

 loud joyful cries, but do not abandon the order of attack when the work 

 of devouring has begun. The flock often presents a front of over a 

 thousand feet, with a depth of sixty or seventy feet ; all along this 

 line of battle the excited cries of the birds produce a loud continuous 

 noise ; all the birds are incessantly on the move, some skimming along 

 the surface with expanded wings, others pursuing the fugitives through 



