308 BRITISH BIRDS. 



breed north of the Arctic circle. It visits the Bermudas and the Southern 

 States on migration, and winters in the Gulf of Mexico and on the coasts 

 of California. It has no very near ally. 



Bonaparte's Gull is a migratory species like its Old- World relative the 

 Little Gull, and passes regularly along the coast as well as the inland 

 " fly-lines " to and from its breeding-grounds in the north. Its migration 

 north commences in April. It is said to arrive in South Wisconsin in that 

 month, and to pass north very slowly and leisurely, as if inspecting the 

 ground as it went. The immature birds, which have not yet begun to 

 breed, make their appearance later, and do not migrate so far north as the 

 nesting-colonies. Richardson says that it arrived very early near Great 

 Bear Lake, before the snow was all melted, and sought for its food in the 

 first pools of water that formed on the shore. It is said not to leave its 

 winter- quarters in California until May. It appears to migrate early in 

 autumn, going south in August and September. 



In many of its habits Bonaparte's Gull very closely resembles the Black- 

 headed and the Little Gulls, but in some of them it differs very considerably 

 from either. It has the same easy graceful flight, more resembling that of 

 the Terns than the large Gulls ; and is said to be incessantly on the wing, 

 every now and then plunging down into the water to capture a small 

 fish. It is a very gregarious bird, and even in winter large flocks are 

 observed feeding and flying in company. Like the Little Gull it glides 

 and flutters in the air in pursuit of insects, or swoops down to the water 

 and picks them from the surface. Audubon observed thousands of these 

 beautiful Gulls hovering and flying over the waters of Chesapeake Bay, 

 gradually proceeding eastwards, and keeping pace with the shoals of fish 

 on which they were feeding. The notes of this bird are described by 

 Dr. Cooper as sharp, but rather faint squeaks ; and Audubon says that 

 they are different from those of all other species, being much shriller and 

 more frequently uttered. 



One of the most peculiar and interesting facts in the history of 

 Bonaparte's Gull is its singular manner of nesting. Although obviously 

 so closely allied to the Little Gull and the Black-headed Gull, it seldom 

 appears to make its nest on the ground in a swamp, but generally on tall 

 trees and bushes. Perhaps it may only breed in trees in districts liable to 

 sudden floods ; for it was observed nesting in the marshes of Swan Creek 

 by Mr. Gunn. MacFarlane, the collector who obtained so many eggs of 

 rare birds for the Smithsonian Institution, found Bonaparte's Gull breeding 

 in the wooded region near Fort Anderson. All the nests he saw were 

 either on bushes or on trees, none being less than four feet, and others 

 from fifteen to twenty feet above the ground. One which he found on 

 the 23rd of June was built on a tree upwards of twelve feet from the 

 ground, standing between two small ponds, and about thirty yards from 



