36 NESTS AND EGOS OF 



splashes are more evenly distributed over the surface. The ground-color varies 

 , from dirty white to olive-drab and light brown, with all the shades of the lighter 

 tints of green and' ashy. They are usually marked with numerous and bold splashes 

 and zigzag lines of umber-broWn and different depths of chocolate, particularly at 

 the larger end. The eggs average about 2.12x1.40 ; they are three in number. Three 

 eggs in my possession, collected at Heron Lake, Minnesota, on the 9th of May, 

 measure as follows: 2.06x1.41, 1.98x1.45, 2.03x1.47. These are olive-drab with bold 

 spots and blotches of light and dark brown; there are no zigzag lines. 



60. BONAPAHTE'S GULL. Lams Philadelphia (Ord.) Geog. Dist.— Entire 

 North America, breeding chiefly north of the United States; south in winter to 

 Mexico and Central America. 



This handsome little gull is a common species throughout North America, from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts. It is especially abundant along the Atlantic coast 

 during its period of migration. Breeds northy^ard nearly to the Arctic- Ocean. Its 

 flight is described as being light, airy and very graceful, resembling that of the 

 Terns. Its principal food is small fish. On many of the large lakes and marshes in 

 the prairie regions of Manitoba it breeds in great numbers, from thence northward 

 and throughout all pacts of the Pur Countries it is found breeding in suitable places. 

 In the marshes of the wooded regions bordering the Mackenzie River it breeds in the 

 latter part of June. The usuar number of eggs laid is three, rarely four. The nests 

 are always placed in elevated situations, in bushes,. trees, or on high stumps; the 

 materials used are sticks and grasses, with a lining of vegetable substances. The^ 

 eggs vary from greenish to brown, spotted and blotched with brown, umber and lilac 

 of. various shades; these markings are chiefly clustered around the larger end. 

 Size. 1.95x1.34. 



60. 1. LITTLE GrULL. Larus minutus Pall. Geog. Dist. — Europe and parts of 

 Asia and Africa; accidental in the Bermudas and on Long Island. 



We can now positively include this bird in the North American avifauna. It 

 has long been more or less doubtfully recognized by ornithologists as aecidently 

 Ajnu^rican upon the strength of a specimen said to have been taken on the first 

 Franklin expedition. Its place in our fauna has always been questionable. Mr. 

 William Dutcher records the capture of an immature specimen of this gull which was 

 shot at Fire Island, Suffolk county. New York (Long Island), about September 15, 

 1887. It was mounted hy the late John Wallace, taxidermist. New York City, who 

 presented it to the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park. Mr. H. K. 

 Swann in his "Birds of London" mentions this gull as of rare occurrence, in the vi- 

 cinity of London, although it occurs from time to time, during the winter, on the 

 east coast of England. It is stated by Prof. Nillson that this gull is known to breed 

 in the marshes in the vicinity of the Baltic, placing the nests on the grassy knolls 

 near the sea. Three eggs constitute the complement, and their color varies from 

 yellowish-brown, olive-brown to greenish-gray marked with spots of dark brown 

 and purplish-gray. Size 1.80x1.32. 



61: BOSS'S GULL. Rhodostethia rosea Maggil. Geog. Dist.— Arctic regions; 

 Point Barrow, Alaska; Melville' Peninsula; England, Faroes, Heligoland, etc. 



This species was first discovered north of British America. A specimen was 

 taken by Mr. Nelson near St. Michaels, Norton Sound, on October 10, 1879. Three 

 specimens were brought home by the nat.uralist of the ill-fated Jeannette. During 

 Perry's adventurous journey over the ice north of Spitzbergen, it was seen several 



