BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 37 



another lesson. lu the meantime he watches his par- 

 ents filching food from nestlings around him, and as 

 soon as he dares, or can find a bird more helpless than 

 himself, he tries the plan. He finds it much easier than 

 catching a bobbing sardine in the water, and from that 

 time his career in crime begins. 



51. HERRING GULL. — Larus argentatus. 



Family : The Gulls and Terns. 



Length: 23.25. 



Adults in Summer: Head, throat, and under pai-ts white ; mantle pearl- 

 gray ; white tip of first primary separated from large white spot 



farther up by blotch of black half an inch wide extending to the tip ; 



eyelids yellow ; feet pale flesh-color. 

 Adults in Winter : Similar, but mottled with ash-color on head and 



neck. 

 Young : Grayish brown, streaked or mottled on head, neck, and upper 



parts with dull whitish ; quill-coverts and tail-feathers rusty black. 

 Downy Young: Soiled white; head irregularly spotted with black; 



back, wing.s, and tail washed with ashy. 

 Geographical Distribution: North America in general; in summer 



from latitude 40° northward ; south in winter to Cuba and Lower 



California. 

 Breeding Range : Inland lakes from latitude 43° to the Upper Yukon, 



Alaska. 

 Breeding Season : Approximately, May 15 to August 1. 

 Nest : A slight depression in .the ground, lined thinly with grasses ; near 



water. 

 Eggs : 3 ; varying from blue-white to yellow-brown, blotched with light 



and dark brown. Size 2.80 X 1-75. 



This is a common gull throughout its range, and 

 differs from other species in its abundance around rivers 

 and harbors. It is the gull seen following the ferry- 

 boats on San Francisco Bay, perching on the anchored 

 fishing craft in Monterey harbor, and sitting on the 

 buoys at San Diego, and tormenting the seals at Santa 



