226 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



" Bill bright orange-yellow, tipped with yellowish green ; vermilion spot on lower mandible ; 

 tarsi and toes flesh-color; iris cream-color" (L. KUMLIEN, MS. 1 ). Adult, in winter: Simi- 

 lar, but head and neck streaked with dusky grayish. "The bill is wine-yellow, the lower 

 mandible with an orpiment patch near the end; the edges of the eyelids yellow; the feet 

 pale flesh-colored, the claws grayish brown; the iris pale yellow" (MACGILI^VBAY). Young, 

 first plumage: Grayish white, the head and neck broadly streaked, the upper parts 

 coarsely spotted, with brownish ash-gray; lower parts nearly uniform light brownish ash, 

 the chin and throat white; bill wholly blackish; feet brownish. "The bill is very pale flesh- 

 colored as far as the anterior extremity of the nostrils, beyond which both mandibles are 

 brownish black. The feet are pale flesh-colored, the claws brownish black" (MACGILLIT- 

 EAT). 



Wing, 15.40-16.50 (15.76) inches; culmen, 1.65-1.90 (1.75); depth of bill through angle, .60-.70 

 (.66) ; tarsus, 2.05-2.20 (2.14) ; middle toe. 1.70-1.95 (1.81). [Pour adults.] 



The Iceland Gull has nearly the same distribution as its larger 

 relative, the Burgomaster (L. glaucus), though breeding much 

 farther south, and in appearance is almost exactly a miniature 

 of that species. The name which has been adopted for it is, 

 however, not very appropriate, since it is said not to breed at 

 all in Iceland, merely passing the winter there. According to 

 Faber,* the first specimens arrive in Iceland just after the middle 

 of September, when both old and young make their appearance, 

 confining themselves to the northern part of that island, among 

 the small inlets, where great numbers pass the winter. Toward 

 the end of April their numbers decrease, and by the end of 

 May nearly all have disappeared. These birds were Faber's daily 

 guests. They came on land to his winter dwelling, and snapped 

 up the entrails thrown to them, fighting fiercely for them with 

 the Ravens. One was so tame that it presented itself at his 

 door every morning at a certain time, that it might be fed, and 

 always gave notice of its arrival by a cry. This Gull would in- 

 dicate to the seal-shooters in the fiord where the seals were to 

 be looked for, by following their track to the sea, and hovering 

 over them in flocks, with incessant cries. It is said to follow, 

 in the same manner, the track of the codfish in the sea, in order 

 to feed upon the booty hunted up by this fish. Faber further 

 states that in the winter (1821) which he passed at Debratte, on 

 the southern coast, not a single bird of this species was to be seen. 

 On the 1st of March the shore was free of Sea-Gulls; but early 



1 "Bill gamboge-yellow, with a spot of orange-red near the end of lower mandible; the 

 angle of the mouth and the edges of the eyelids are also orange-red. Iris pale yellow^ 

 Feet pale flesh-color ; claws grayish brown" (AUBUBON). 



8 "Bill yellow, the tips black. Edges of eyelids pale reddish orange; iris brown. Feet 

 yellowish flesh-color; claws grayish brown" (AUDUBON). 



* As quoted by'Dr. Brewer, in The Water Birds of A'orth America. 



