4 BULLETIN 292, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



protect gulls all ihe year. Louisiana protects them during the breed- 

 ing season, February 1 to August 1, while five States — Montana, 

 Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico — offer them no protection 

 at any time of year. 



The surest way to protect any given bird is to remove the tempta- 

 tion to destroy it, and so the most certain way to stop the killing 

 of gulls for the millinery trade is to prohibit the sale of gulls' wings 

 and plumage, so that the plume hunter can find no market for his 

 spoils. To California belongs the credit of incorporating in the game 

 law of 1895 the first law in this country prohibiting the sale of gulls' 

 plumage for millinery purposes. Many States followed this lead 

 until, in 1910, New York, enacting the most drastic law of all, pro- 

 hibited not only the sale but the having in possession of the plumage 

 of any bird belonging to the same family as any of the birds of the 

 State of New York. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



North American gulls and their allies include 29 species, one of 

 which is divided into two subspecies, making a total of 30 forms. 

 Three of these are birds of the Eastern Hemisphere which have 

 occurred only accidentally in North America, while five others breed 

 in the far North and are not known to occur in the United States 

 even during migration or in winter. This leaves 22 forms of 21 

 species that are found in the United States. Of these, 7 both breed 

 and winter in this country, 14 breed in the Arctic and occur here in 

 migration or in winter, and 1 breeds south of the United States and 

 then comes north in migration. 



Old World Species Accidental in North America. 



Siberian gull (Larus affinis). Once in 



Greenland. 

 Mew gull (Larus canus). Once in Labrador. 



Little gull (Larus minutus). Once in Ber- 

 muda and once on Long Island. 



Forms Breeding in the Arctic and Not Wintering in the United States. 



Vega gull (Larus vegse). Not wintering 



south of the Aleutians. 

 Ross's gull (Rhodoslcthia rosea). Not 



wintering south of the Pribilofs. 



Red-legged kittiwake (Rissa breviroslris). 



Not wintering south of the Aleutians. 

 Nelson's gull (Larus nelsoni). See note. 

 Slaty-backed gull (Larus schistisagus). 



Not wintering south of the Aleutians. 



Note. — Nelson's gull breeds in the Arctic, and, though it migrates south in winter 

 as far as Lower California, it has not yet been taken in the United States. 



Forms Breeding and Wintering in the United States. 



Glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens) . 

 Western gull (Larus occidentalis) . 

 Herring gull (Larus argentatus). 

 California gull (Larus calif ornicus) . 



Ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensi-s). 

 Laughing gull (Larus a trici I la). 



Franklin's gull (Larus franklini). 



