56 



the rear of the city, cutting short the great bend which the Mississippi 

 river makes north of Saint Louis. Many old birds in beautiful plumage 

 were seen all clay soaring ia majestic gyrations at enormous heights 

 above the Mississippi. At Saint Louis the last was seen April 12; at 

 Lake City, Minn., the first April 26, and the last May 10. In the fall 

 of 1885 the first was seen at Milwaukee, Wis., August 8, and the last 

 November 21. 



53. Larus californicus Lawr. [683.] California Gull. 



A rare visitant from the west. Colonel N. S. Goss shot one on the 

 Arkansas river, in Eeno county, Kans., October 20, 1880. 



54. Larus delawarensis Ord. [669.] Ring-hilled Gull. 



Breeds from the northern tier of States northward ; occurs in win- 

 ter as far north as southern Illinois, and occasionally Saint Louis, 

 and is a common winter resident along the coast of Texas and Louis- 

 iana. It was shot in Chicago harbor in the latter part of December, 

 1883. In 18S1 the first migrant was seen at Saint Louis February 26, 

 and the bulk came to Vermillion, Dak., March 31. The other dates 

 are more or less irregular. 



In the spring of 1885 the only arrivals noted were as follows: Em- 

 poria, Kans., April 30; Luck, Wis., April 17, and Heron Lake, Minn., 

 April 9. 



In the fall of 1885 it left Heron Lake November 11. According to 

 Eidgway it is a summer resident in the northern part of Illinois, but 

 is not yet known certainly to breed there. 



58. Larus atricilla Linn. [673.] Laughing Gull. 



Belongs more particularly to the South Atlantic and Gulf States ; 

 breeds plentifully on the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, and a few pass 

 up the Mississippi during the summer as far as southern Illinois. It is 

 not known from Kansas, but was recorded by Mr. Powell at Alda, 

 Nebr., in July 1880. 



59. Larus franklinii Sw. & Rich. [674.] Franklin's Gull. 



Franklin's Gull breeds from southern Minnesota and Dakota north- 

 ward ; winters in the Southern States, and migrates principally west of 

 the Mississippi river. The records of its movements are irregular and 

 unsatisfactory. In 1884 it arrived at Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, 

 April 21. In 1885 it was reported from Emporia, Kans., April 10. It 

 breeds abundantly in Dakota and western Minnesota, and thence north- 

 ward. Until within a few years its presence anywhere in the United 

 States in summer was considered a rare occurrence. In 1879 Roberts 

 and Benner found it common in the Traverse Lake region in western 

 Minnesota in June (Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, Vol. V, 1880, p. 20). In 

 1884 Mr. Thomas Miller reported it as an abundant summer resident at 

 Heron Lake, in southwestern Minnesota; and Mr. J. W. Preston has 

 recently found it breeding in numbers in western Minnesota, where it 



