542 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



black to different browns and obscure - purples. Their 

 dimensions vary from 2.85 by 2.05 inch to 2.65 by 1.85 

 inch. Large specimens of this species cannot be distin- 

 guished from small ones of the preceding. 



CHROICOCEPHALUS, EYTON. 



Chroicocephalus, EYTON, Cat. Brit. Birds (1836). 



Bill moderate, rather slender, much compressed ; upper mandible straight at base, 

 more or less curved at the end; nostrils lateral and longitudinal; wings long,. nar- 

 row, and pointed; tail moderate, usually even; tarsi rather slender; feet webbed; 

 liind toe small and elevated. 



These Gulls are of medium or small size : in their spring attire, the head is 

 clothed with a dark-colored hood ; but in the winter it becomes white, with a dusky 

 spot behind the ear. These birds are very handsome, the dark and light colors of 

 their plumage forming a beautiful contrast. 



CHROICOCEPHALUS ATRICILLA. Lawrence. 

 The Laughing Gull. 



Larus atricilla, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 225. Bon. Syn. (1828), No. 294. 

 Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 291. Aud. Birds Am., VII. (1844) 136. 

 Larus ridibundus. Wils., IX. (1824) 89. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Adult. Head and upper part of neck blackish lead-gray, extending lower in 

 front; upper .and lower eyelids white posteriorly; lower part of neck, entire under 

 plumage, rump, and tail, pure-white; in spring, a beautiful roseate tint exists on the 

 breast and abdomen; back and wings grayish-lead color; the first six primaries are 

 black, beginning on the first at about two-thirds of its length from the point, and 

 regularly becoming less on the others, until, on the sixth, it is reduced to two spots 

 near the end; tips in some specimens white, and in others black to their points; bill 

 and inside of the mouth dark-carmine ; iris bluish-black ; legs and feet deep-red ; in 

 winter the head becomes white, intermixed on the crown and hind neck with brown- 

 ish-gray. 



Length, seventeen inches; wing, thirteen; tail, five; bill, one and three-fourths; 

 tarsus, two inches. 



Hob. Texas to Massachusetts. 



This handsome bird is a resident on our coasts through 

 the year, but is not at all abundant. It nests in the 

 marshes, making only a loose structure of a few pieces of 

 seaweeds or grasses, which it places in a sandy, elevated 

 spot, where the tides do not reach. The eggs are three in 

 number. Their form is usually ovoidal, sometimes ovate. 



