220 
CH AKA DRI I FORMES 
Distinctions. Large size, general whiteness, and brown to flesh-coloured legs. 
Field Marks. Size, general coloration, and lack of black wing tips. 
Distribution. The northern coasts from Newfoundland to Bering Sea. Common on 
the east coast in winter. A regular but rare winter visitor to British Columbia waters. 
Only a straggler inland. There are occasional records for the lower Great Lakes, western 
Alberta, and one from Lake Okanagan, British Columbia. 
Nesting. On the ground, nest of seaweed or vegetable fragments. 
SUBSPECIES. It has been proposed to separate the Glaucous Gull of the west coast 
from that of the east coast under the name Point Barrow Gull Larus hyperboreus barro - 
vianus, on the basis of slightly smaller size. The form has not yet been recognized by 
the American Ornithologists’ Union, but it may be the basis of the occasional reports of 
the Iceland Gull on the west coast of the continent. 
43. Iceland Gull, le Gotland a ailes hlanches. Larus leucopterus. L, 24. 
The Iceland Gull is of about the same size as the Herring Gull, but with very light grey or 
white mantle and white wing tips — -a smaller edition of the Glaucous (See Figure 318), 
Distinctions. Size, and white instead of black wing tips. 
Field Marks. Size, wing tips, and general whiteness of coloration. 
Nesting. On ground. 
Distribution. Breeds in the Arctic regions of Greenland and western Europe. Visits 
our Atlantic coast in winter only, rarely straggling inland as far as Lake Ontario. 
Economic Status. As it is only a winter visitor on our seacoasts and 
accidental on the Great Lakes, it has little if any economic importance. 
44. Glaucous- winged Gull, le Gotland a ailes glauques. Larus glaucescens. 
L, 25. Plate XXVII A. A Herring Gull w r ith grey instead of black wing tips. It is to be 
noted that the bird in the coloured plate shows the autumn or winter plumage with the 
crown and neck clouded with ashy. 
Distinctions. The soft grey patterned w r ing tips are always distinctive of this species 
(Figure 319). Some juveniles and faded adults have practically white primaries and in this 
condition could easily be mistaken for Glaucous Gulls were the mantle lighter. Younger 
birds are difficult to distinguish from similar ages of Herring Gulls. In comparable plum- 
ages this species is consistently lighter in colour and the back is of finer and less decided 
pattern. The tail and wing tip of the Herring Gull of the year are nearly black, but those 
of similar Glaucous-winged are decidedly mouse colour. In birds of this species assuming 
the adult blue mantle, the blue blends imperceptibly into the adjoining drab patches 
instead of forming piebald blotches. 
Figure 319 
Glaucus-winged Gull; scale, ' . 
It may best be known from other similar gulls of the coast by size and the details 
given under those species. See Ring- billed and California Gulls. 
Field Marks. Large size and grey wing tips or grey mantle and faded white wing 
tips. No characteristics can be given by which juveniles may be certainly recognized. 
Nesting. On the ground or rock ledges; nest scanty, of seaweed or waste vegetable 
matter. 
Distribution. Coast of north Pacific and Bering Sea. Breeds from Washington 
northward. 
