THE BIRD BOOK 
19. Western Gull. Larus occidentalis. 
V* 
[50.] Siberian Gull. Larus afpnis. 
This bird does not nest in North America, and 
has a place on our list, by its accidental occur- 
rence in Greenland. It is an Old World species 
and its nesting habits and eggs are like those of 
the Herring Gull. 
51. Herring Gull. Larus argentatus. 
Range. — Whole of the Northern Hemisphere, 
breeding from Maine and British Columbia north- 
ward and wintering south to the Gulf. 
This Gull, which formerly was No. 51a, a sub- 
Western Gull species of the European variety, is now regarded 
Herring Gull as identical with it, and is no longer a sub-species. 
It is twenty-four inches in length, has a light gray mantle and black primaries 
which are tipped with • 
white. The Herring „ 
Gulls nest in colonies 
in favorable localities 
throughout their range, 
chiefly on the coasts 
and islands. A few pairs 
also nest on islands in 
some of the inland 
bodies of fresh water. 
Except in places where 
they are continually 
molested, when they 
will build in trees, they 
place their nests on the 
ground either making 
no nest on the bare 
sand, or building a 
bulky nest of seaweed 
in the grass on higher 
parts of the island. Buff 
They lay three eggs of 
a grayish color marked with brown. In rare cases unspotted bluish white 
eggs are found. Size 2.8 x 1.7. 44 
Range.- — Pacific Coast, breeding from southern 
California to British Columbia. 
This bird, which is the most southerly distrib- 
uted of the larger Gulls is twenty-four inches in 
length. Mantle slate colored; primaries black, 
both these and the secondaries being broadly 
tipped with white. These Gulls nest abundantly 
on the Farallones, the majority of them showing 
a preference for the lower portions of the island, 
although they nest on the ledges also. Besides 
man, these Gulls are the greatest enemies that 
the Murres have to content against. They are 
always on the watch and if a Murre leaves its 
nest, one of the Gulls is nearly always ready to 
pounce upon the egg and carry it away bodily in 
his bill. The Gulls too suffer when the eggers 
come, for their eggs are gathered up with the 
Murres for the markets. They make their nests 
of weeds and grass, and during May and June 
lay three eggs showing the usual variations of 
color common to the Gulls eggs. Size 2.75 x 1.90. 
