LAUGHING GULL. 163 



the farm house, coursing along the river shores, glean- 

 ing up the refuse of the fishermen, and the animal 

 substances left by the tide; or scattered over the 

 marshes and newly ploughed fields, regaling on the 

 worms, insects and their larvae, which, in the vernal 

 season, the bounty of Nature provides for the sustenance 

 of myriads of the feathered race. 



On the Jersey side of the Delaware Bay, in the 

 neighbourhood of Fishing Creek, about the middle of 

 May, the black-headed gulls assemble in great multi- 

 tudes, to feed upon the remains of the king crabs which 

 the hogs have left, or upon the spawn which those 

 curious animals deposit in the sand, and which is 

 scattered along the shore by the waves. At such times, 

 if any one approach to disturb them, the gulls will rise 

 up in clouds, every individual squalling so loud, that 

 the roar may be heard at the distance of two or three 

 miles. 



It is an interesting spectacle to behold this species 

 when about recommencing their migrations. If the 

 weather be calm, they will rise up in the air, spirally, 

 chattering all the while to each other in the most 

 sprightly manner, their notes at such times resembling 

 the singing of a hen, but far louder, changing often 

 into a haw, ha ha ha haw ! the last syllable lengthened 

 out like the excessive laugh of a negro. When 

 mounting and mingling together, like motes in the 

 sunbeams, their black heads and wing-tips, and snow 

 white plumage, give them a very beautiful appearance. 

 After gaining an immense height, they all move off, 

 with one consent, in a direct line towards the point of 

 their destination. 



This bird breeds in the marshes. The- eggs are three 

 in number, of a dun clay colour, thinly marked with 

 small irregular touches of a pale purple, and pale brown ; 

 some are of a deeper dun, with larger marks, and less 

 tapering than others ; the egg measures two inches and 

 a quarter by one inch and a half. 



The black-heads frequently penetrate into the interior, 

 especially as far as Philadelphia; but they seem to 



