LAUGHING GULL. 
259 
fields, regaling on the worms, insects and their larvae, which, in 
the vernal season, the bounty of Nature provides for the sustenance 
of myriads of the feathered race. 
On the Jersey side of the Delaware bay, in the neighbourhood 
of Fishing-creek, about the middle of May, the Black-headed Gulls 
assemble in great multitudes, to feed upon the remains of the King 
Crabs which the hogs have left, or upon the spawn which those 
curious animals deposite in the sand, and which is scattered along 
the shore by the waves. At such times if any one approach to dis- 
turb them, the Gulls will rise up in clouds, every individual squal- 
ling so loud, that the roar may be heard at the distance of two or 
three miles. 
It is an interesting spectacle to behold this species when about 
recommencing their migrations. If the weather be calm, they will 
rise up in the air, spirally, chattering all the while to each other in 
the most sprightly manner, their notes at such times resembling 
the singing of a hen, but far louder, changing often into a haxv, ha 
ha ha haxv ! the last syllable lengthened out like the excessive laugii 
of a negro. When mounting and mingling together, like motes in 
the sunbeams, their black heads and wing tips, and snow white 
plumage, give them a very beautiful appearance. After gaining 
an immense height, they all move off, with one consent, in a direct 
line towards the point of their destination. 
This bird breeds in the marshes. The eggs are three in 
number, of a dun clay colour, thinly marked with small irregular 
touches of a pale purple, and pale brown ; some are of a deeper 
dun, with larger marks, and less tapering than others ; the egg 
measures two inches and a quarter by one inch and a half. 
The Black-heads frequently penetrate into the interior, espe- 
cially as far as Philadelphia ; but they seem to prefer the neigh- 
bourhood of the coast for the purpose of breeding. They retire 
southward early in the autumn. 
