656 LLACK-HEADED G. UL. 
Weare inclined to the opinion, that the three Gulls of Latham, 
viz. the Black-headed Gull, the Red-legged Gull, and the Laugh- 
ing Gull, are one and the same species, the very bird which we have 
been describing, the difference in their markings arising from their 
age and sex. We feel imboldened to this declaration from the cir- 
cumstance of having ourselves shot Gulls which corresponded almost 
precisely to those of the above author, of the same habits, the same 
voice, and which were found associating together. 
In some individuals, the crown is of a dusky gray; the upper part 
and sides of the neck, of a lead color; the bill and legs, of a dirty, 
dark, purplish brown. Others have not the white spots above and 
below the eyes; these are young birds. 
The changes of plumage, to which birds of this genus are subject, 
have tended not a little to confound the naturalist ; and a considerable 
collision of opinion, arising from an imperfect acquaintance with the 
living subjects, has been the result. To investigate thoroughly their 
history, it is obviously necessary that the ornithologist should frequently 
explore their native haunts; and, to determine the species of period- 
ical or occasional visitors, an accurate comparative examination of 
many specimens, either alive or recently killed, is indispensable. Less 
confusion would arise among authors, if they would occasionally 
abandon their accustomed walks — their studies and their museums, 
and seek correct knowledge in the only place where it is to be obtained 
—in the grand temple of nature. As it respects, in particular, the 
tribe under review, the zealous inquirer would find himself amply 
compensated for all his toil, by observing these neat and clean birds 
coursing along the rivers and coast, enlivening the prospect by their 
airy movements, now skimming closely over the watery element, 
watching the motions of the surges, and now rising into the higher 
regions, sporting with the winds, — while he inhaled the invigorating 
breezes of the ocean, and listened to the soothing murmurs of its 
billows. 
The Black-headed Gull 1s the most beautiful and most sociable of 
its genus. They make their appearance on the coast of New Jersey 
in the latter part of April; and do not fail to give notice of their 
arrival by their familiarity and loquacity. The inhabitants treat them 
with the same indifference that they manifest towards all those harm- 
less birds which do not minister either to their appetite or their avarice ; 
and hence the Black-Heads may be seen in companies around the farm- 
house, coursing along the river shores, gleaning up the refuse of the 
fishermen, and the animal substances left by the tide; or scattered 
over the marshes and newly-ploughed fields, regaling on the worms, 
insects, and their larve, which, in the vernal season, the bounty of 
Nature provides for the sustenance of myriads of the feathered race. 
On the Jersey side of the Delaware Bay, in the neighborhood of 
Fishing Creek, about the middle of May, the Black-headed Gulls 
assemble in great multitudes, to feed upon the remains of the king 
crabs which the hogs have left, or upon the spawn which those curious 
animals deposit in the sand, and which is scattered along the shore by 
the waves. At such times, if any one approach to disturb them, the 
Gulls will rise up in clouds, every individual squalling so loud, that the 
roar may be heard at the distance of two or three miles. 
It is an interesting spectacle to behold this species when about 
