GULLS 
227 
The Ring-billed Gull in first year is the lightest coloured of the larger gulls, even at 
this time showing indications of the blue mantle on the back. Underparts nearly pure 
white, peppered with sparse, fine, dark bands. This and the sharp terminal tail bar will 
distinguish it from the Herring Gull and usually from the California. Size and general 
spottiness of the younger birds are probably the best criteria for separation from the 
Short-billed. 
Figure 330 
Age characters of Ring-billed Gull: 
a, first year; b, approaching maturity; c, adult. 
Field, Marks. Size, decidedly smaller than the Herring Gull and slightly smaller than 
the California, larger than the Short-billed. The ring on the end of the bill is distinctive. 
Differentiated from the Herring Gull also by yellow instead of flesh-coloured legs. 
In juvenility, the whitest of the young of the larger gulls. Decidedly lighter than the 
dark Herring Gull of the first year and with a tail bar that is never present in that species. 
More spotty than similarly juvenile California or Short-billed Gulls. Eye-sight records in 
juvenility are not very reliable in localities where the two latter species may be expected. 
Nesting. On the ground, on rocky, stony, or marshy shores. 
Distribution. Across the continent, breeding over most of eastern and central Canada 
north to Great Slave Lake. No records of breeding in British Columbia, but probably 
does so in the northern interior. Common on the coast in migration. Competes in numbers 
with the Herring Gull on the Great Lakes. 
This is probably the commonest of the large gulls throughout the 
interior, and the one most often seen on or about the lakes and sloughs of 
the prairie region. 
55. Short-billed Gull or American Mew Gull, le Gotland cendr£. Larus 
canus. L, 17-50. Similar in coloration to the Herring Gull, but the smallest of this type 
of coloration. 
Bill of Short-billed Gull; 
scale, natural size. 
Figure 332 
Wing of Short-billed Gull. 
Distinctions. West coast and northwest interior. Its clear yellow' bill without dark 
or red spot or ring (Figure 331), is distinctive from all others except the Ivittiwake. Its 
feet and legs are yellowish or yellowish green, similar to its two larger relatives. Likely 
