Gulls 



eggs, varying from olive to greenish gray or dull white, pro- 

 fusely marited with chocolate brown, are not so rare a find for 

 the collector as the eggs of most other gulls that nest in the ex- 

 treme north, where only the hardy explorers in search of the 

 North Pole count themselves more fortunate sometimes to find a 

 square meal of gulls' eggs. 



Formerly these laughing gulls were exceedingly abundant 

 all along our coasts. Nantucket was a favorite nesting resort, 

 so were the marshes of Long Island and New Jersey; but unhap- 

 pily a fashion for wearing gulls' wings in women's hats arose, 

 and though only the wings were used, as one woman naively 

 protested when charged with complicity in their slaughter, the 

 birds have been all but exterminated at the north. In southern 

 waters they are, happily, common still, and will be again at the 

 north when the beneficent bird laws shall have had time to 

 operate. 



Bonaparte's Gull 



(Larus Philadelphia) 



Called also: ROSY GULL 



Length — 14 inches. 



Male and Female — In summer: Head and throat deep sooty slate, 

 the hood not extending over nape or sides of neck, which 

 are white like the under parts and tail. Mantle over back 

 and wings pearl gray. Wings white and pearl gray. Pri- 

 maries of wings marked with black and white. Bill black. 

 Legs and feet coral red. In nesting plumage only, the white 

 under parts are suffused with rosy pink. In winter: Similar, 

 except that the birds lack the dark hood, only the back and 

 sides of the head washed with grayish ; white on top. 



Young — Grayish washings on top of head, nape, and ears ; mantle 

 over back and wings varying from brownish gray to pearl 

 gray; upper half of wings grayish brown; secondaries 

 pearly gray ; primaries, or longest feathers, at the end much 

 marked with black; white tail has black band a short 

 distance from end, leaving a white edge showing. Under- 

 neath, white. 



JRange — From the Gulf of Mexico to Manitoba and beyond in the 

 interior; Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Nests north of United 

 States. 



Season — Common spring and autumn migrant. A few winter 

 north. 



44 



