Gulls 



of great nesting colonies in the cliffs overhanging the upper 

 waters of the Yukon, where the sound of the rushing torrent was 

 drowned by their harsh uproar as they wheeled about in dense 

 clouds high above his head. The nest, which is a very slight 

 affair of seaweed, moss, or grass, contains two or three stone- 

 colored eggs, although sometimes pale olive-brown ones are 

 found, spotted and marked with chocolate and ashy gray. 

 Many nests are also made directly on the ground. 



What is reprehensible in this bird's habits is its tyranny 

 over smaller, weaker gulls and other birds that it hunts down 

 like a pirate to rob of their food while they carry it across the 

 waves or to their nest, where the villain still pursues them and 

 devours their young. Quite in keeping with such unholiness 

 is the burgomaster's harsh cry, variously written huk-lak' and 

 cut-leek , that it raises incessantly when hungry, and that therefore 

 must be particularly unpleasant to the kittiwakes, guillemots, and 

 other conspicuous victims of its rapacious appetite. When its 

 hunger is appeased, however, by fish, small birds, crow-berries, 

 carrion, and morsels floating on the sea, this gull is said to be 

 inactive and silent; and certainly the starving hunters in the 

 Greely expedition found it sadly shy. 



The Iceland Gull (Larus leucopterus) looks like a small 

 edition of the burgomaster, its length being about twenty-five 

 inches ; but its plumage is identical with that of the larger bird. 



Great Black-backed Gull 



(Larus marinus) 



Called also: SADDLE-BACK; COBB; COFFIN CARRIER 



Length — 29 to 30 inches. 



Male and Female — In summer: Mantle over back and wings 

 dark slaty brown, almost black ; wing feathers tipped 

 with white; rest of plumage white. Bill yellow, red at 

 the angle. Feet and legs pinkish. In winter: Similar to 

 summer dress except that the white head and neck are 

 streaked with grayish. Immature birds are mottled brown 

 and white, the perfect plumage described above not being 

 attained until the fourth year. 



Range — Coasts of North Atlantic. Nests from Nova Scotia north- 



37 



