390 



August 1st, 1842 ' (p. 271). 1 saw the remains of one that had been killed, in November 1875, 

 near Newhaven. Specimens of it are also in the collection of Mr. W. Coe and J. H. Sage of 

 Portland, Conn. ; and Mr. Win. F. Lane sends me a specimen from Wallingford, Conn., stating 

 that eight were seen there in the fall of 1874." It is recorded from various parts of the eastern 

 coast, and also in the interior of the United States down as far south at least as Florida, where, 

 however, Mr. Scott writes (Auk, 1888, p. 374) that "this species is not common on the gulf 

 coast of Florida, so far as I am aware. I took a single individual at Panassoffkee Lake in 

 Sumpter county in the winter of 1875-76, and found a few at the mouth of the Withlacooche 

 River in December and January 1879-80. I have no record of it in the immediate vicinity of 

 Tarpon Springs, and the only record south of that point is of a single bird, apparently 

 immature, taken at John's Pass, Hillsboro' county, December 1886." "Whether it occurs further 

 south than Florida I cannot say; but Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway state that "it winters 

 in the southern portions of the United States on both shores, and also to a certain extent — not 

 well ascertained — in Mexico and Central America. It is also stated to have occurred in the 

 Bahamas; but Mr. Cory points out (Auk, 1888, p. 76) that though it is claimed to have been 

 seen at Long Island, Bahamas, there is no actual record of the capture of this Gull in the 

 AVest Indies. 



I have not seen this Gull excepting on the shores of the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, 

 where, on several occasions during the autumn, I saw small flocks fishing off the shore and 

 near some nearly submerged rocks at some distance outside. On the wing it is very graceful, 

 and its flight reminded me of that of a Tern. They were engaged in fishing and were not 

 particularly shy. I never saw any there in the summer, though they are said to occur in the 

 Bay at that season, but I do not believe that any have been found breeding there. Audubon 

 found in the stomachs of specimens which he examined coleopterous insects, shrimps, and small 

 fish ; and Dr. Cooper describes the call of this Gull as consisting of sharp but rather faint 

 squeaks. It breeds in the northern districts of the United States and British North America 

 as far south as Manitoba in the British possessions, where, according to Mr. Macoun, it breeds 

 on all the large lakes of the prairie region, and Mr. Donald Gunn found it nesting in the 

 marshes of Swan Creek, not far from Shoal Lake. It has also been found breeding by American 

 collectors at Fort Resolution on the Yukon, Fort Simpson, Big Island, Fort Rae, Peel's River 

 Fort, Fort Good Hope, and Fort Anderson on the Lower Anderson River. Sir J. Richardson 

 writes (Journ. of a Boat Voyage, &c. i. p. 200) respecting the present species as follows : — " One 

 of the birds which we traced up to its breeding places on Bear Lake River, but not to the sea 

 coast, is the pretty little Bonapartean Gull (Xema bonapartii). This arrives very early in the 

 season, before the ground is denuded of snow, and seeks its food in the first pools of water which 

 form on the borders of Great Bear Lake, and wherein it finds multitudes of minute crustacean 

 animals and larvae of insects. It flies in flocks and builds its nests in a colony resembling a 

 rookery, seven or eight on a tree ; the nests being framed of sticks laid flatly. Its voice and 

 mode of flying are like those of a Tern, and, like that bird, it rushes fiercely at the head of 

 anyone who intrudes on its haunts, screaming loudly. It has, moreover, the strange practice, 

 considering the form of its feet, of perching on posts and trees ; and it may be often seen 

 standing gracefully on the summit of a small spruce fir." Mr. MacFarlane found this species 



