SABINE’S GULL. 
235 
with impetuosity towards those who approached their nests, 
and when one was killed, its mate, though frequently fired at, 
continued on the wing close to the spot. I'he birds were 
observed to collect their food from the sea-beach, standing 
near the edge of the water, and gleaning the marine insects 
which were cast on the shore. When newly killed, the plu- 
mage of the under parts had a delicate pink blush. 
Like most of the black-headed members of this group, Sabine’s 
Gull displays a preference for inland waters, especially in the nest- 
ing season, though it never builds far away from the sea. Its 
breeding area lies in the Far North, near the shores of the Arctic 
Ocean; but in winter it ranges to the New England coasts and 
to the Great Lakes. It is not common, however, so far south; 
probably more examples have been seen about the mouth of the 
Bay of Fundy than elsewhere along our shores. 
Note. — Nuttall gave a place in his work to the Little Gull 
{Larits minutus)-, but the claim of this species to be included in 
our fauna has been disputed by recent authorities, and the name 
has been omitted from the A. O. U. “Check-List.” It has been 
given, however, in the “ History of N. A. Birds,” and in Ridgeway’s 
“ Manual ; ” and the bird’s right to be mentioned in all American 
ornithological works has now been finally settled by Mr. William 
Dutcher’s authentic statement that one example was captured on 
Long Island in 1887. 
