GULLS 



(47) Larus marinus Linn. 



(Lat., marine). 



GREAT BLACK -BACKED 

 GULL; SADDLE-BACK. Very large 

 and very powerfuL Bill stout and 

 deep at the angle. Ad. in summer — 

 Mantle very dark as shown. Iris and 

 bill yellow. Feet flesh-color. In 

 winter — The same but with gray 

 streaks on the head. Im. — Very 

 variable. Head and nape streaked; 

 back and wings brownish, with huffy 

 spots; under parts grayish, more or 

 less streaked or barred with dusky. 

 L., 30.00; Ex., 65.00; W., 19.00; T., 

 8.00; Tar., 3.00; B., 2.50. Eggs — 

 Two or three, clay-colored, evenly 

 spotted with brownish-black, 3.00 



X2.IS. 



Range — Breeds from Nova Scotia 

 to central Greenland. Winters south 

 to the Great Lakes, and Long Island. 



share with Glaucous Gulls the name of "Burgomasters." 

 They not only eat fish, dead or alive, and refuse matter 

 found floating or beached, but force other gulls to relinquish 

 their "finds"; during the summer, they also devour many 

 eggs and young of smaller gulls and shore birds. 



Most abundant of all species along our shores are HER- 

 RING GULLS. Large breeding colonies occur on islands 

 off the Maine coast and northward, and on many lakes 

 along our northern border and in Canada. When one goes 

 into one of these colonies the noise is deafening, sounding 

 to me most hke so many hens each cackling her loudest. 

 The eggs are laid in hollows on the ground, everywhere — 

 sometimes under the shelter of rocks or fallen trees, but, of 

 necessity, most often in the open. The downy little gulls 

 leave the nest soon after hatching and run about every- 

 where. In fact, those a week old can run so fast that it is 

 quite difficult to catch them; if hard pressed and near the 

 shore, they will plunge into the water and swim out of reach. 



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