NORTH AMERICAN GULLS AND THEIR ALLIES. 51 



September so many had started south that during this month at 

 Yaquina Bay, Oreg. (Bretherton), it outnumbered all other gulls. 

 It is an abundant southward migrant at Monterey, Cal., from August 

 through October, but its numbers begin to decrease in early Novem- 

 ber (Loomis). The last leave Fort Rupert, at the north end of 

 Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in October (Saunders), and 

 only a few were still present in November, 1889, as far north as 

 Ilwaco, Wash. (Chapman). A specimen was taken at Bodega Bay, 

 Cal., as late as December, 1854 (Lawrence), and a few remain all win- 

 ter as far north as San Francisco Bay (Henshaw), and casually — 

 January, 1896 — even at Esquimault, British Columbia (Macoun). It 

 is less rare at Monterey Bay during the winter (Loomis) and common 

 at that season along the coast of southern California (Willett). It 

 ranges south in winter to Chiapam and San Jose, Guatemala, where 

 specimens were taken in January, 1863 (Salvin). A few were noted 

 in Acapulco Bay, Guerrero, April, 1903 (Nelson and Goldman). 



LAUGHING GULL. Lams atricilla Lnm^us. 



Range. — Atlantic coast from Maine to British Guiana, the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and the Pacific coast of western Mexico and Guatemala. 



Breeding range. — The laughing gull is preeminently a breeding bird 

 of eastern Caribbean Sea. It is a common breeder on the islands of 

 Arab a, Bonaire, Curacao (Hartert), and Margarita (Clark), off the 

 coast of Venezuela, and on the southern islands of the Lesser An- 

 tilles — Grenada, Carriacou, Barbuda, Grenadines, and Soufriere. It 

 is recorded from the others of the Lesser Antilles and from Porto 

 Rico and Haiti, but though it undoubtedly breeds at many places 

 throughout this region there is apparently no specific record of the 

 finding of eggs. The bird reappears as a breeder in Jamaica (Field); 

 Cuba (Gundlach); on the coast of Campeche, at Areas Keys (Nel- 

 son) ; probably at Saddle Cay, British Honduras (Salvin) ; and the 

 northern Bahamas — Andros, New Providence, Cat, Watling, and 

 probably many other islands, as the species ranges throughout the 

 Bahamas. 



Along the United States coast from Florida to Maine the laughing 

 gull was formerly an abundant breeder and 50 to 60 years ago nested 

 in great numbers at many places. A large part of these colonies have 

 been extirpated by the plume hunter, but some birds escaped the 

 slaughter, and during the last few years, under the careful protection 

 of the National Government and of the National Association of 

 Audubon Societies, these remaining colonies have increased in size 

 and the birds are returning to others of their former homes. 



On the western and southern coasts of Florida these gulls breed 

 near Passage Key (Pillsbury) and on a key near Cape Sable (Bent and 

 Job). Many of the birds were seen during June, 1904, near Key West, 



