LAUGHING GULL. 
255 
insects and their larvae, which, in the vernal season, the bounty 
of Nature provides for tlie 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 disturb them, the Gulls will rise up in clouds, 
every individual squalling 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 haw, ha ha ha haw! the last syllable lengthened out like 
the excessive laugh 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 ap- 
pearance. After gaining an immense height, they all move off, 
with one consent, in a direct line towards the point of their 
destination. 
IJiis bird breeds in the marshes. The eggs are three in num- 
ber, 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. * 
* From Mr. Ord’s supplementary volume. 
