LAUGHING GULL. 
237 
ity and noise ; companies are even seen at times around the 
farm-house, or coursing along the river shores, attending upon 
the track of the fishermen for garbage, gleaning among the 
refuse of the tide ; or, scattering over the marshes and plough- 
ing fields, they collect, at this season, an abundant repast of 
worms, insects, and their larvae. Great numbers are also seen 
collected together to feed upon the prolific spawn of the king- 
crab. While thus engaged, if approached they rise, as it were, 
in clouds, at the same time squalling so loudly that the din 
may be heard for two or three miles. 
The Black-Headed Gulls breed in the marshes of New 
Jersey, but are not seen during the breeding-period in New 
England, and are indeed at all times rare in this quarter. Be- 
ing apparently a somewhat tender species, they retire to the 
South early in autumn, and on commencing their migrations, 
if the weather be calm, they are seen to rise up in the air spir- 
ally, all loudly chattering as it were in concert, like a flock of 
cackling hens, the note changing at short intervals into a 
'haw, ’ha ’ha ’ha ’haw, the final syllable lengthened out into 
an excessive and broad laugh. After ascending to a consider- 
able height, they all move off, by common consent, in the line 
of their intended destination. 
On the 4th of March (1830), while at Beaufort, North 
Carolina, in company with several other species I saw a small 
flock of these Risible Gulls, which every now and then, while 
amusing themselves by fishing and plunging after their prey 
of fry, burst out very oddly into an oh oh agh agh, or a coarse, 
laughing scream. 
The Laughing Gulls used to breed in numbers on the Nantucket 
islands, but they have been nearly exterminated, and during recent 
years only a few examples have been seen on the New England 
shores. To the southward these birds are still common, being 
particularly abundant on the Florida coast and among the West 
India islands. 
