LARID/E — THE GULLS AND TEllNS - LAUUS. 



231 



Wing, IS. 25-17.00 (16.10) inclie.s ; culiuun, 2.(X)-2.3r> (2.24) ; ao})tli of bill tliroUKh nnnle, .83- 

 .95 (.88) J tttrsus, 2.45-2.75 (2.61) ; luiddlu tou, without claw, 2.00-2 45 (2,26). [Eight mlults.] 



Tlii.s species, both common on and contiued to our nortlnvest Pacific coast, was 

 iii'.st described by Audubon Ironi two speciiniens procured by Mr. Townsend in October, 

 l.S.%, near (Jajjc Disappointment. He furnished no account of its habits. 



Mr. llenshaw mentions it as very nunu'rous in all the bays and inlets of tlie I'acific 

 coast, where its numbers are greater all the year round than tlioso of any other species. 

 Fre(! from molestation, it has become almost semi-donu'sticated, and flies about the 

 wliarves and over the vessels with a fearlessness of long innnunity from molestation. 

 The rocky islets along the coast furnish these birds with safe breeding-grounds. At 

 Simta Cruz thousands had congregated, and were nesting in early June. On one of 

 till' small adjoining islets, and the only one accessible, ;i few pair had nested. The 

 iii'sts were made of a generous supply of seaweed and similar materials, well matted 

 together, the cavity being quite deep. It is probable that this species is also found 

 on the Tacific shores of Asia, as Mr. H. Whitely states (" Ibis," 18G7) that he pro- 

 cured several specimens at Hakodadi, in Ja])an, in December and January. 



Dr. Coo})er regards the L. otridentalls as at once the most abundant and the most 

 characteristic species of the Californian coast. It is everywhere resident, and ap^jears 

 never to leave its home, unless i)ossibly some of these birds residing in summer far to 

 the north come down to California in the winter. Yet he noticed but little diminution 

 in their number in winter north of the Columbia, although he found them in December 

 ponnnon as far as the end of the peninsida of Lower California, which is about their 

 southern limit. They breed through all the immense range from Cape i''lattery to 

 iSau Diego, and i)robably even farther in each direction. Dr. E. Palmer informs me 

 that during his visit to San Diego he was surjjrised to witness the tameness and 

 i'iiuiiliarity of this sjiecies. It wanders about the gardens, door-yards, and streets of 

 tliat town in great numbers, mixing with the domestic Fowls, and gathers uj) and 

 eats almost everything, not refusing even potato-i)arings. It is very tame notwith- 

 standing tlie rough usage it receives from boys. Dr. Palmer saw numbers i)erched on 

 the tops of buildings in rows intermingled with the domestic Pigeons. On the coast 

 of California its chief breeding-places are the Farallones, Santa Barbara Island, and 

 tlu' Coronados, just south of the Mexican bouiulary line. Some of these birds, how- 

 evi'i', make their nests on isolated rocks and cliffs along the entire coast. On Santa 

 Barbara Island there are great numbers of eggs laid ; but fewer than formerly, on 

 account of the depredations of the sealers and eggers, who rob these birds so often 

 that few are able to hatch out any young, and then only very late in the season, or 

 after the middle of June, although they begin to lay about the first of AFay — the 

 time varying, however, considerably with the season and the locality. At the Faral- 

 lones, in 18(33, this species began to lay about the Gth of May ; and in 18G4, May 13, 

 as 1 )r. Cooper was informed by Jlr. Tasker, the keeper of the lighthouse. 



The nest is constructed of pliable stalks of seaweeds and other vegetation, neatly 

 matted together around a slight depression scoo]>ed in the ground. The eggs are two 

 or three in number, and are described by Dr. Cooper as having in some instances a 

 groLuid of pale gray, and in others an olive-brown hue, thickly blotched with dark 

 brown of two shades, or of black. They measure from 2.70 to 2.90 inches in length, 

 and from 1.80 to 2.00 in breadth. For about three weeks in May these eggs are car- 

 ried in large quantities from the Farallones to San Francisco. After this time the 

 Gulls are no longer molested, and only the eggs of the Murre are gathered. During 

 Dr. Cooper's visit there in June he found numerous Gulls sitting, and saw the first 



