﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  KEW 
  YORK 
  1.33 
  

  

  with 
  dusky 
  white. 
  Juvenal 
  plumage: 
  Upper 
  parts 
  light 
  brownish 
  gray, 
  the 
  

   feathers 
  tijjped 
  with 
  grayish 
  white; 
  a 
  dusky 
  space 
  about 
  the 
  eye; 
  forehead 
  

   and 
  under 
  jjarts 
  dull 
  white, 
  clouded 
  with 
  gray, 
  especially 
  on 
  the 
  breast; 
  

   primaries 
  black; 
  tail 
  clark 
  bluish 
  gray, 
  with 
  broad 
  black 
  subterminal 
  band; 
  

   bill 
  and 
  feet 
  mostly 
  brownish 
  black. 
  

  

  Length 
  15-17 
  inches; 
  extent 
  41; 
  wing 
  12. 
  5-13; 
  tail 
  5; 
  bill 
  i. 
  65-1. 
  75; 
  

   gape 
  2.3 
  ; 
  depth 
  of 
  bill 
  at 
  nostril 
  .45 
  ; 
  tarsus 
  2 
  ; 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  1.5. 
  

  

  Distinctive 
  marks. 
  The 
  dark 
  mantle 
  and 
  primaries 
  of 
  the 
  Laughing 
  

   gull 
  will 
  distinguish 
  it 
  from 
  our 
  other 
  Black-headed 
  gulls 
  in 
  the 
  mature 
  

   plumage. 
  Young 
  birds 
  may 
  be 
  recognized 
  by 
  the 
  wholly 
  brownish 
  black 
  

   primaries, 
  and 
  the 
  generally 
  darker 
  upper 
  parts 
  than 
  in 
  our 
  other 
  small 
  

   gulls. 
  

  

  Distribution. 
  The 
  Laughing, 
  or 
  Black-headed 
  gull 
  is 
  an 
  inhabitant 
  

   of 
  the 
  tropical 
  and 
  austral 
  regions 
  of 
  America. 
  In 
  this 
  State 
  it 
  is 
  practically 
  

   confined 
  to 
  the 
  seacoast, 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  common 
  summer 
  resident 
  in 
  Giraud's 
  

   day 
  but 
  now 
  is 
  rare, 
  nesting 
  only 
  on 
  the 
  salt 
  marshes 
  of 
  Great 
  South 
  bay. 
  

   It 
  is 
  reported 
  as 
  an 
  accidental 
  siimmer 
  visitant 
  in 
  the 
  Hudson 
  Highlands 
  

   by 
  Mearns; 
  and 
  near 
  Buffalo 
  by 
  Bergtold. 
  The 
  northernmost 
  colonies 
  

   known 
  are 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  IVIaine 
  and 
  Massachusetts. 
  It 
  occurs 
  with 
  

   us 
  now 
  chiefly 
  as 
  an 
  uncommon 
  transient 
  visitant 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  first 
  

   appearing 
  in 
  April, 
  and 
  passing 
  south 
  in 
  September, 
  Evidently 
  the 
  

   number 
  of 
  breeding 
  colonies 
  on 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  has 
  rapidly 
  decreased 
  

   during 
  the 
  last 
  30 
  years, 
  but 
  the 
  protection 
  by 
  the 
  Audubon 
  Societies 
  will 
  

   f)robably 
  save 
  them 
  from 
  extermination. 
  In 
  Mr 
  Butcher's 
  Long 
  Island 
  

   Notes 
  the 
  last 
  records 
  of 
  its 
  breeding 
  are: 
  South 
  Oyster 
  Bay, 
  May 
  24, 
  

   1884; 
  Amityville, 
  June 
  11, 
  1887, 
  ro 
  x^airs; 
  Cedar 
  Island, 
  May 
  19, 
  1888. 
  

  

  Haunts 
  and 
  habits. 
  This 
  gull 
  inhabits 
  the 
  bays, 
  islands 
  and 
  marshes 
  

   of 
  the 
  seacoast, 
  making 
  its 
  nest 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  among 
  the 
  grasses. 
  The 
  eggs 
  

   are 
  from 
  two 
  to 
  five 
  in 
  number, 
  usiially 
  three, 
  varying 
  in 
  color 
  from 
  a 
  dull 
  

   grayish 
  white 
  to 
  a 
  dark 
  greenish 
  or 
  olive-brown, 
  thickly 
  spotted 
  and 
  splashed 
  

   with 
  brown, 
  black, 
  reddish 
  and 
  dull 
  lilac, 
  2.12 
  by 
  1.55 
  inches 
  in 
  size. 
  Dr 
  

   Coues 
  writes, 
  "its 
  cachinnations 
  in 
  the 
  breeding 
  season 
  are 
  not 
  more 
  vocif- 
  

   erous 
  than 
  those 
  of 
  other 
  species 
  under 
  similar 
  circumstances." 
  Langille 
  

  

  