738 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
Laughing Gull. Larus atricilla Linn. (58) 
Synonyms: Black-headed Gull.—Larus ridibundus, Wilson. 
This is a southern species which is abundant along the South Atlantic 
coast but is very rarely found in the interior, and there are no satisfactory 
records for Michigan. Those cited hy Cook (Birds of Michigan, 2d ed., 
1893, 33) are not supported in any case by specimens, and L. W. Watkins 
informs us that the report attributed to him is erroneous. Major Boies 
includes it in his list of the Birds of Neebish Island (1897), but took no 
specimens. 
It is more than probable that some one of the smaller black-headed 
gulls has been mistaken for it in every case. It should be borne in mind 
that this bird is about twice the weight of Bonaparte’s Gull, and little 
inferior in measurements to the Ring-billed Gull. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Tarsus much longer than middle toe and claw. Adult in summer with the head and 
mantle dark slate color; five outer primaries entirely black or with small white tips, the 
rest always white-tipped. Rest of plumage pure white, or rose-tinted in the breeding 
season. Bill and feet dark red. Length, 15 to 17 inches; wing, 13; tail, 5; culmen, 1.75. 
Gull-billed Tern. Gelochelidon nilotica (Linn.). (63) 
Synonym: Marsh Tern. 
A species which has figured frequently in lists of Michigan birds, but 
without satisfactory evidence. After careful examination of all the 
so-called records we are convinced that there is not a shadow of excuse 
for including it in the list. It is a bird of almost world-wide distribution 
on the salt waters of tropical and warm temperate regions. In the United 
States it occurs rarely as far north as New England and is extremely rare 
in the interior. Apparently there is no good record for Ohio, Indiana 
or Wisconsin, and if it has ever occurred in any part of the Great Lake 
region its presence must have been entirely accidental. We attribute the 
frequent reference to this species to the unfortunate name “Marsh Tern” 
which has led collectors who have found Forster’s Tern or the Black Tern 
nesting in marshes to assume that they had found the Gull-hilled Tern. 
As a matter of fact this bird is twice as heavy as the Black Tern and fully 
as large as the Common Tern or as Forster’s Tern, but as its name implies, 
the bill is much stouter and thicker than in the genus Sterna, much more 
closely resembling that of a gull than a tern. Moreover, the bill is entirely 
black. 
Roseate Tern. Sterna dougalli Montagu. (72) 
A southern species ranging northward along the Atlantic coast to Mass- 
achusetts and occasionally to Maine, but apparently confined to the sea- 
board. There is no authentic record for the state. There is a mounted 
specimen in the University Museum at Ann Arbor bearing “Mich.” on 
the label, but the record shows that it was obtained from a collector or 
dealer who did not specify any locality. A skin in the Kent Scientific 
Museum at Grand Rapids (mentioned in Moseley’s list, and referred to 
by Cook) has no locality label whatever. 
