DESCRIPTIVE LIST 31 



dark reddish brighter at the tip. Ads. in winter. Resemble above, but have the head and throat 



white, crown and sides of head and sometimes nape spotted or streaked with grayish. Im. 



Upperparts light ashy fuscous, the feathers margined with whitish; primaries black; forehead 

 and underparts white, sometimes washed in places with dusky; tail dark pearl-gray, broadlv 

 tipped with black. L., 16.50; W., 12.50; T., 4.90; B., 1.65. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. Maine to Brazil along the coast; also casually in Colorado, Nebraska. Wisconsin. 

 Iowa, and Ontario. 



Range in North Carolina. Coastal region, breeding in Pamlico Sound. 



FIG. 10. LAUGHING GULL. 



In summer plumage this is a strikingly beautiful bird. The solid slaty black of 

 the head, the pure white of the neck, the dark pearl gray of the upperparts and the 

 black primary feathers contrasting sharply against the pure white of the under- 

 parts and tail, combine to produce a bird of noticeably handsome appearance. In 

 the breeding season it is a noisy and graceful addition to the life of the treeless 

 islands on which it nests. 



As a result of protection extended to them by the Audubon Society in recent 

 years, the Laughing Gulls have greatly increased in numbers since 1903, when 

 they were not known to breed anywhere in this State. About seven hundred 

 young birds are now raised every summer on Royal Shoal Island in Pamlico Sound, 

 where their nests are built among the clusters of grass and weeds growing on the 

 dry parts of the island. 



15. Larus Philadelphia (Ord.). BONAPARTE'S GULL. 



Ads. in summer. Whole head and throat dark, sooty slate-color; nape and sides of the neck, 

 underparts, except throat, and tail white; back and wings pearl-gray; first primary, when 

 viewed from above, white, outer web and tip black; second and third primaries white, tipped 

 with black; third to sixth primaries with small whitish tips, then large black spaces, the rest 

 of feather white or pearl-gray; bill black. Ads. in winter. Similar, but head and throat white, 

 back and sides of head washed with grayish. Im. Top of the head and nape and a spot on 

 the auriculars more or less washed with grayish; back varying from brownish gray to pearl- 

 gray; lesser wing-coverts grayish brown, secondaries mostly pearl-gray; first primary with outer 

 web, tip, and most of the shaft part of inner web black; inner margin of inner web at end of 

 feather narrowly bordered with black; second and third primaries much the same, but with 

 slightly more black at ends; tail white, banded with black and narrowly tipped with white; 

 underparts white. L., 14.00; W., 10.30; T., 4.00; B., 1.15. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. North America; breeds far northward; winters from Maine to Florida, and on the 

 Gulf Coast to Texas and Yucatan; on the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Mexico. 



Range in North Carolina. Coastal region in winter; occasionally inland. 



