LIFE HISTOBIES OF NORTH AMERICAN GULLS AND TERNS. 185 



the little islands, which were perhaps a hundred yards long and from 10 to 20 

 yards wide, while the rosy gulls made their nests on wet grassy spots or bogs 

 much nearer to the water, and these nests rose from 4 to 10 inches, generally 

 from 5 to 8 inches, above the surface. The hollow formed in the grass (dead 

 grass, of course, as green grass is hardly seen even by the 20th of June) is about 

 6 or 7 inches in diameter ; but the nest proper is a shallow cup only about 4 or 

 44 Inches in diameter. It is composed of dry grass and Carices, sometimes with 

 the addition of a few dry Betula or Salix leaves, while I once saw one made of 

 white reindeer moss. The cup of the nest is from f to i inch, generally \ inch 

 thick. 



The eggs which he collected were taken between June 13 and 26, 

 those taken on the latter date being nearly ready to hatch. 



Later on (July 6 and 7) he discovered two more colonies, which he 

 describes as follows: 



Here we were clear of the Salix and Alnus thickets and were on the true 

 tundra, which afforded a welcome relief to both eyes and limbs. After the 

 delay caused by a long and heavy snowstorm I discovered two new breeding 

 colonies of this gull — one on the wet grassy border of a lake about a kilometer 

 in diameter, the other in the middle of a somewhat larger lake, furnished 

 with many tiny islands, spacious bogs, and shallow grassy areas. Both colonies 

 contained from 10 to 12 pairs of Rhodostethia, accompanied by five or six 

 pairs of terns, considerable numbers of Limosa uropygialis, Phalaropus fuli- 

 carius, P. lobatus, Tringa maculata, Pavoncella pugnasb, Harelda glacialis, and 

 a pair or two of Soolopax gallinula, Colymbus arclicus, Squatarola helvetica, 

 Charadrius fulvus, and Totanus fuscus. 



Mr. John H. Dalgleish (1886) reports the finding of a nest of 

 Eoss's gull by Mr. Paul Miiller near Christianshaab, Greenland, on 

 June 15, 1885. The nest " was situated in the midst of the nests of 

 a colony of Sterna macroura. The female bird was shot off the nest, 

 which, when found, contained two eggs." 



Eggs. — There are four eggs of this species in the United States 

 National Museum, which bear a decided resemblance to eggs of the 

 Sabine's gull. They are pointed in shape and have a uniform ground 

 color of " ecru-olive." They are rather faintly marked with irregular 

 and indistinct spots and blotches of " Saccardo's umber." The 

 measurements of 31 eggs, in various collections, average 43.6 by 32 

 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 46.6 by 

 32.7, 43 by 34, 39 by 31.5, and 44.4 by 30.3 millimeters. 



Of the eggs Buturlin (1906) says: 



The rosy gull lays sometimes two, but nearly always three, eggs; four are 

 said to be found not uncommonly, but I doubt the fact The eggs, as might 

 be expected from so beautiful a bird, are very handsome and, happily for the 

 collector, are quite unlike those of the black-capped tern. 



The eggs of the rosy gull are not only larger and in particular broader than 

 those of its neighbor, but are of quite a different shape, being extremely round 

 for gulls' eggs, with the small end by no means pronounced. They are much 

 darker and more evenly colored than any other eggs of the order known to 

 me, being of a beautiful deep rich olive-green, without any of the grayish or 



