THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY. 



Notes on the Birds of Long 

 Island. 



WITH BRIEF DISCRETIONS OF EACH SPECIES. 



BY W. W. WORTHINGTON. 



(if) 42. Larus glaucus : 

 Glaucus Gull, (660.) 



Above Ught bluish gray. Edge and tip 

 of wing white head, rump, tail, and beneath, 

 white. Bill gamboge yellow, with an orange 

 red spot near the base of lower mandible. 

 Iris light yellow. Legs and feet flesh color. 

 Length'30 inches. Tail 8:75. 



This fine Gull is very rare so far South as 

 Long Island. "I saw an adult of this species 

 several times during the winter of 1880-1881 

 saw it very plainly, and do not think it was 

 an albino form of L. marinus" (Helme). 



"Mar. 11, 1884, I purchased one of a pair 

 of this species which had been shot by a 

 gunner at South Oyster Bay. The specimen 

 011 ght is in nearly the same plumage as 

 one described by Dr. Mearns in the Bulletin 

 of the Nuttall Orn. Club. Vol. v. p. 189. The 

 other is a younger bird," (Ducher). Breeds 

 in the Arctic regions, laying 2 or 3 eggs of a 

 grayish brown to whitish ground, with spots 

 of brown and blackish. Nests of seaweeds 

 and moss, placed on rocks or in grass tus- 

 socks. Eggs average about 3x2x1-4 inches. 



(18) 47. Larus marinus : 



Great Black-backed Gull, (663 ) 



Above slaty black. Head, neck, tail, and 

 under parts white. Quills tipped with white. 

 Bill vellow, with an orange red blocch near 

 the tip of the lower mandible. Length 30 in. 



A rather common winter visitor. Often 

 seen in company with the next species. Ex- 

 tremely shy and difficult to obtain. Breeds 

 from the Bay of Fundy northward. Nests of 

 dry grasses, on the ground ; bulky. Eggs 2 



or 3, light grayish to yellowish brown ground, 



spotted and blotched with reddish brown 

 and lilac. 



(19) j - 1 a Larus argentatus smithsonianus: 



American Herring Gull, (666a.) 



Above fine bluish pearl, the wings with 

 black markings near the tip, which are white. 

 Head, neck, tail, and beneath white. Bill 

 yellow, with an orange red blotch near the 

 end of low'er mandible. Legs and feet flesh 

 color. Length 23 in. 



An abundant winter resident, a few re- 

 maining through the summer, but none 

 breed south of Maine, where their breeding 

 range extends northward and inland. Warv 

 birds, always keeping just beyond gunshot, 

 but sometimes captured on a fish-hook im- 

 bedded in an eel, and attached to a conceal- 

 ed string. Gathers in flocks on sandbars at 

 high tide, and breeds in communities. Feeds 

 on scallops and other shell fish, and whatever 

 refuse is cast up by the waves. Nests on the 

 ground, where much persecuted takes to 

 trees. Nest of moss and grasses. Eggs 3, 

 whitish to yellowish brown, blotched and 

 spotted with browns, average 2: 83 x 1: 79 in. 



(20) §4. Larus delawarensis : 

 Ring-billed Gull, (669.; 



Above light bluish pearl. Head, tail, and 

 under parts white. Bill yellowish, and 

 crossed near its tip with a black band. 

 Length 20 inches. 



A regular migrant but not very common. 

 Abundant winter resident along the South 

 Carolina, and Georgia coast, and quite un- 

 suspicious, being easily attracted by a dead 

 tern thrown overboard, over which thev 

 would come and hover until shot. 1 think 

 many of these birds travel north bv an inland 

 route. "Not an uncommon winter resident'* 

 (Helme). Breeds inland and northward. 

 Nest on ground or cliffs, made of grasses, 

 etc. Eggs, whitish or brownish ground. 

 markings of lilac, and brown of different 

 shades, average 2: 7S x 1: 67 in. 



