GULLS. 



315 



pervious. The wings long, pointed ; second quill 

 feather longest, but the first nearly equal. The 

 legs set near the middle of the body, slender, 

 naked at the lower part ; the tarsi long, palmated, 

 yet formed for walking : the tail square or slightly 

 forked. 



One of our most abundant species is the Black- 

 headed, or Laughing Gull (Larus ridibundus, 

 LINN.), the upper parts of whose body are pearl- 

 grey, the lower parts, with the whole neck, pure 

 white ; the head, and the tips of the wings black ; 

 the beak and feet scarlet. 



LAUGHING GULL. 



During the summer this Gull frequents marshes 

 and wet meadows, where it produces and brings 

 up its young ; in the winter it retires to the sea- 



