NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. ■ 35 



57. HEEBUCAN'S GXTLIi. Larus heermanni ,Cass. Geog. Dlst.^-Pacific coast 

 of North America, from British Columbia to Panama. 



This is said to be one of the handsomest birds of the family to which it belongs, 

 and is commonly called the White-headed Gull. It is a common species along the 

 California coast and is most abundant in winter. At the Farallon Islands it is oc- 

 casionally seen, but does not breed there. It probably breeds on the Santa Cruz and 

 Santa Rosa Islands, as it does on others farther south. The general habjts of this 

 species are the same as those of other gulls. One particular trait, however, marks 

 this species — that of following flocks of pelicans and robbing them of a portion of 

 the fish which these birds carry in their pouches, seizing upon the fishes which 

 fall out or hang outside. The food of this gull is almost exclusively fish, which it 

 also procures by diving. It also feeds on small Crustacea and mollusca. The eggs 

 of this species are described as having a yellowish-drab ground-color, over which is 

 scattered spots and markings of lilac- and different shades of brqwn. The average 

 size is 2.45 by 1.50. 



58. liATTGHING GULL. Larus atricalla Linn. Geog. Dist. — Eastern trop- 

 ical and warm temperate America, chiefly along the sea coast, from Maine to Brazil; 

 Pacific coast and Middle America. 



The Laughing or Black-headed Gull is more of a southern species, particularly 

 one of the Gulf and South Atlantic States, but is found breeding as far north as the 

 coasts of New England. It is an abundant and a resident species on the coast of 

 Florida, along the whole extent of the Gulf of Mexico; and also on the Pacific an ' 

 Atlantic coasts of Central America. Mr. Maynard says: "The notes of gulls a- 

 loud and startling, but those of the Laughing are the most singular of them all, for 

 their cries, especially when the bird is excited, sound like loud peals of prolonged 

 and derisive laughter."* Mr. Theodore W. Richards states that this gull is abundant 

 on all the marshes along the Virginia coast. For a nest they collect an immense 

 amount of rubbish and build in the wettest portion of a marsh; many nests were 

 found actually afloat.t Mr.. R. C. Stuart, of Tampa, Fla., writes me that this species 

 nests in large communities, on grassy islands along the Gulf coast in May and June, 

 placing the nests in tussocks of grass; the cavity is nicely lined with fine, dry 

 grasses. The eggs are from three to five in number. In color they vary from 

 bluish-white to greenish-ash, spotted and blotched with brown, umber and lilac of 

 varying shades; the usual variations in size, ground color and markings are to b& 

 found in a large series of these eggs; sizes from 2.00 to 2.28 long by 1.50 to 1.65 broad. 



59. FBANKLIN'S GULL. Larus franklinii Sw. & Rich. Geog. Dist. — In- 

 terior of North America, breeding from the northern border of the United States 

 northward; south in wintei- to Central and South America. 



In North America this gull is confined to the interior, chiefly west of the Missis- 

 sippi, breeding from the northern border of the United States northward. Mr. J. W. 

 Preston found it nesting in the marshes of western Minnesota, about the middle of , 

 Mayt I am informed by Mr. H. J. Wallace that it breeds abundantly in the marshes 

 of the Red River Valley of Western Manitoba. He found this beautiful gull breeding 

 in large communities, in marshes and wooded swanips, making its nest of wet grasses 

 and sedges on the tops of broken down stalks. The eggs are described as closely 

 resembling those of the Eskimo Curlew in size, shape and color, though the dark 



• Birds of Eastern North America, 

 t The Oolofflst, IX, 79. 

 Ornithologist and Oologlst, Vol. XI, pp. B4-55. 



