BIRDS OF KANSAS. 25 



nests were placed amid the scanty tufts of grass." But of late 

 years I think they have not been found breeding on the Atlan- 

 tic coast south of Labrador. 



Their nests are placed on the rocks or ground, and made 

 chiefly of sea weed. Eggs usually three. One set, taken June 

 23d, 1884, on the. south coast of Labrador, measure: 2.40x 

 l.U, 2.44x1.68, 2.40x1.68. Ground color varies from a pale 

 bluish white or greenish tint to olive drab, with pale markings 

 of lilac, and irregular spots and blotches of varying shades of 

 brown, thickest about larger end; in form, oval to ovate. 



Larus franklinii Sw. & Kicn. 



FRANKLIN'S GULL. 

 PLATE II. 



Migratory; common. My notes show their capture from the 

 last of March to first of May, beginning to return the last of 

 September, and are often to be seen as late as November. 



B. 068, 669. R. 674. C. 787. G. 310, 8. U. 59. 



HABITAT. Interior of North America, breeding chiefly north 

 of the United States; south in winter to Peru, South America. 



SP. CHAR. "Adult, in summer: Head and upper part of the neck plumbe- 

 ous black (more plumbeous anteriorly); au enlougated white spot on each 

 eyelid; lower part of the neck (all round), entire lower parts, lower part of the 

 rump and upper tail coverts snow white, the neck and lower parts with a deep 

 tinge of delicate rose pink in fresh specimens. Mantle deep bluish plumbeous, 

 a little lighter than in L. atricitta, the secondaries and tertials broadly tipped 

 with white. Tail white, the four to six central feathers tinged with pale gray- 

 ish blue, deepest on the intermedia. Primaries bluish gray, the shafts white, 

 the five outer quills marked with a subtermiual space of black varying in extent 

 from nearly 2.00 inches long on the second quill to about .50 on the fifth, each 

 quill broadly tipped with white, this occupying on the outer about 1.50 inches 

 of the terminal portion, on the rest less than .50 of an inch; the bluish gray of 

 the basal portion of the quills becoming nearly or quite white where joining the 

 black, and the shafts of the black portion also black; remaining quills light 

 grayish blue, broadly, but not abruptly, tipped with white, the sixth sometimes 

 marked with a subterminal black spot or bar. Bill deep red, with a more or 

 less distinct darker subterminal band; eyelids red; feet deep red. Adult, in 

 winter: Similar, but head and neck white, the occiput, with orbital and auricular 

 regions, grayish dusky. Bill and feet brownish, the former tipped with orange 

 reddish. Young, first plumage: Top and sides of head (except forehead and 

 lores), back and scapulars grayish brown, the longer scapulars bordered termi- 

 nally with pale grayish buff; wing coverts bluish gray, tinged with grayish 



