1 



LARID.E — TIIK OILLS AND TKKXS — LAUl'S. 



24' 



'I lie stomachs of those CJulls tliiit were killed were not only filled with grasshoppers, 

 but some birds had stuffed themselves so fidl that these eould be seen when the birds 

 ()]i('iicil their mouths. And it was a curious faet that the (Julls captured the j,'rass- 

 hiippers in tlie air, and not by walking over the groinid, as they have l)een said to do. 

 Sailing around in broatl circles, as though soaring merely tor pleasure, the birds seized 

 till' Hying grasshoppers as easily, if not as gracefully, as a swallow while in rapid 

 tii,t,'ht secures its prey of smaller insects. 



Mr. Ilenshaw regards this (JuU as In-ing common throughout Utah on all the larger 

 IkmHos of water. It was seen in large numbers on Provo lliver late in November, 

 wlicn the lake was frozen over, and he had no doubt that it was a winter resident 



tliriv. 



Dr. Coojjcr refers to this species as being rare in California, and as visiting the 

 Ldwcr Pacific coast only in winter, and usually in small nundiers. He met with a few 

 (il these CJulls near San Diego between November and February, but foinid them 

 (Miiiiinon in I'uget Sound during the winter. They ai)i)eared to siU)sist almost entirely 

 by lishing ; and for this purpose they foll(;w the rivers far into the interior. At San 

 ])ii',i,'() neither this species nor the ra/ljhnitrus was known to feed on dead whales 



— a diet which formed the chief subsistence of the two larger species, and to some 

 extent of the aryentatus. Dr. Cooper also met \\\i\\ this species near Lake Tahoo 

 in September. 



It was seen by Captain Stansbury during his expedition to Salt Lake, April 0; and 

 he mentions in his Journal that while rounding the northern point of Antelope Island 

 he came upon a rocky islet covered with innumerable Hocks of ( Jidls which had eon- 

 gn';^nited there to build their nests. It is also mentioned l)y Captain Dendire as 

 liciiig a sumnun- resident of Eastern Oregon, and as breeding there abundantly. 



l'"c)ur eggs in my collection — two from Labrador, and two from Great Slave Lake 



— jnesent the following measurements : 2.20 by l.CO inches ; 2.20 by l.G") ; 2.2.'5 by 

 l.fid ; 2.40 by l.GO. Their ground-color varies from a pale grayish green to a deep 

 dralt. These are spotted, in varying proportions, but (diiefly about the larger end, 

 with subdued markings of lilac and slate, and larger blotches of a dark clove-brown. 



Larus brachyrhjrnchus. 



THE SHOBT-BILLED GULL. 



Tjnrns camm. Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 420 (=ndult; not of Linn. 1758). — Nutt. Man. TI. 1834, 



301 . 

 Liii-us bnichyrhynchus, 'Rkh. F. B. A. II. 1831, 421 (= young). — Nurr. Man. II. 1834, 301. — 



C'oirF.s, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1862, 302; 2d Clicck List, 1882, no. 780. — Elliot, Illustr. 



Am. I?. II. 1.1. .'■.3.— Rii)(!W. Xom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 670. 

 Liiriui caniis, var. bmchyrliynchiiii, CoUEs, Key, 1872, 313; Check List, 1873, no. 549 ; B. N. W. 



1874, 639. 

 iMnis Snckkyi, Lawk. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 1854, 264 (= young) ; in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 847. — 



Baiud, Cat. N. Am. B. 1850, no. 665. 

 Uissa srptcnlrimuilis, Lawu. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 1854, 266 (= adult); in Bnird's B.N. Am. 1858, 854. 



— Baiki), Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 673. 



H \n. The interior of Arctic America, and Pacific coast, south to Washington Territory. 



Sp, Char. Similar to L. canus, but bill proportionally shorter and deeper, middle toe longer 

 m proportion to the tarsus, and pattern of the primaries quite different. Size small (wing about 

 14.00 inches) ; bill small, the culmeii about as long as the middle toe, which is much shorter 

 than the tarsus. Adult, in summer: Mtmtle light pearl-hlue, the shade averaging exactly as in 

 L. ((uii«,i the secondaries and tertials broadly (the former ratlier abruptly) tipped with white. 



1 On this point cf. Howard Saunders, P. Z. S., 1878, p. 179. 



