52 THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 



NOTE. A scream, cackle, or laugh. Some make an 

 almost cooing sound when courting. 



DISPOSITION AND GENERAL HABITS. They are usually 

 sociable, and have considerable courage and 

 intelligence. 



ECONOMIC QUALITIES. They are of use as scavengers 

 and vermin-destroyers, and are sometimes used as 

 food. Some of the largest species are destructive 

 to game and wild-fowl, and even lambs. 



CAPTIVITY. The typical gulls do very well in captivity, 

 and several species breed freely. Skuas, Terns, 

 and even Skimmers have also been successfully 

 kept, but the last in the New York Zoological 

 Park only. 



DISTRIBUTION AND IMPORTANT SPECIES. Some or other 

 of the species of these birds, about a hundred and 

 twenty in number, are found everywhere, chiefly 

 along sea-coasts, but also inland about wide rivers, 

 lakes and marshes ; they always keep in the open. 

 Many of them are migratory ; and, while some 

 range very widely, others have a quite restricted 

 habitat. 



Our Herring-Gull (Larus argentatus)&nd the greater 

 Black-backed Gull (L. marinus) range all round 

 the northern parts of the world, while the Lesser 

 Black-back (L. fuscus), although confined to the 

 Old World, is found from the Faroes to Aden. 

 The small Black-headed Gull (L. ridibundus), 

 our commonest species, ranges almost all over 

 Europe and Asia, visiting India in winter. The 

 common Gull of Indian coasts is, however, the 

 very similar Brown-headed Gull (L. brunnei- 

 cephalus), but this is a winter visitor. 



In southern waters the species of Gulls are much 

 fewer ; the large black-backed forms are repre- 

 sented chiefly by the Dominican Gull (L. domini- 

 camis), while the small Jameson's Gull (L. jamesoni), 



