THE BIRDS OF WISCONSIN. 
11 
common than anywhere in the interior, and Dr. Hoy, in 1852. 
says: "Visits us only in severe winters. Rare/' It is easy to 
see how the doctor came to make this statement, as the bird is 
not a lake gull or a winter resident, and the only birds he met 
at Racine were late stragglers, and he supposed them to occur 
at this season only. It seems remarkable that so few spring 
specimens are obtained in eastern Wisconsin. In fact, birds 
in breeding plumage are, except along the Mississippi, 
decidedly rare in the state. 
Lams Philadelphia (Ord.J. BONAPARTE'S GULL. 
The systematic slaughter of this beautiful gull for millinery 
purposes has so reduced its numbers that we can no longer 
claim it as our most abundant species. We are informed on 
good authority that for several seasons, in May, between 1880 
and 1888, two men from Chicago regularly visited Lake 
Koshkonong to shoot this gull for its plumage. Report says 
"thousands" were killed, and that when the gulls left for more 
northern waters the plume hunters followed — how far we know 
not. These men reported that there were many others 
employed, and they visited such lakes as the gulls frequented 
in numbers each season. From about 1865 to 1875 it was a 
sight worth seeing when hundreds, perhaps thousands, of these 
birds commenced to flock together on Lake Koshkonong, and 
with one accord began their circling flight northward. These 
vast flocks passed directly over our house as they left the lake, 
and many a time have we watched them, rising higher and 
higher, and gradually fading from view. In the same locality 
at the present day very few are seen, either in spring or fall, 
although small flocks are of regular occurrence on any of the 
larger lakes. In 1880 a few were said to breed on Chambers- 
Island, Green Bay, and we saw on some small islands in Big 
Bay de Noquet, Michigan, a number of nests like pigeons 
nests on the flat branches of low coniferous trees that without 
question had been used by these birds. Many full-plumaged 
birds were seen and numbers of young, but only one so young 
as to be still unable to fly. When this species was common, 
from 1865 to 1880, it generally put in an appearance in 
southern Wisconsin during the first week of April, remaining 
to or past the middle of May. Immature birds remained the 
entire summer. The fall migration began sometimes as early 
as the middle of August and a few remained until the ice 
formed. A few remain until mid-winter, especially on Lake 
Michigan, but as a rule it is not a winter resident. 
