GULLS 
159 
n. N. Y. (casually), and n. Que.; winters from B. C., the Great Lakes, and 
Mass. s. to Bermuda, the Gulf coast, Cuba, and s. Mex. 
Washington, very common T. V., Feb.-Apl. 5; Oct.-Nov.; rare* in win- 
ter. Long Island, regular T. V., abundant in fall; casual in winter and 
summer; Sept. 5-Nov. 12; Mch. 27-May 15. Ossining, casual T. V. SE. 
Minn., T. V., Mch. 23, Oct. 10. 
Nest , of grasses, etc., on the ground. Eggs, 2-3, clay-color, buffy, or 
whitish, rather evenly spotted with chocolate, 2*30 x 1“65. Date, Stump 
Lake, N. D., May 31. 
The coast-inhabiting individuals of this species resemble the Her- 
ring Gull in habits, and are not easily identifiable from that species 
unless the two be seen together, when the smaller size of the Ring-bill 
is noticeable. 
In the interior, where the species is locally common, it feeds in 
part on insects, which it catches both on the ground and in the air. 
The Short-billed Gull {55. Larus brachyrhynchus) of Western North 
America, is accidental in Quebec. 
The Mew Gull {56. Larus canus)— a European species — has been 
reported once from Labrador. 
58. Lams atricilla Linn. Laughing Gull. (Fig. 23, b). Ads. in 
summer. — Back and wings dark pearl-gray; primaries black, inner ones 
with small white tips (Fig. 78, c ); whole head and throat deep slate-color; 
rest of plumage, including nape, pure white, breast sometimes suffused by 
a delicate peach-blossom tint; bill dark reddish brighter at the tip. Ads. 
in winter. — Resemble above, but have the head and throat white, crown and 
sides of head and sometimes nape spotted or streaked with grayish. Im . — 
Upperparts light ashy fuscous, the feathers margined with whitish; pri- 
maries black; forehead and underparts white, sometimes washed in places 
with dusky; tail dark pearl-gray, broadly tipped with black. L., 16'50; W., 
12-50; T., 4'90; B., F65. 
Range. — Tropical and temperate coasts. Breeds from Maine (rarely) 
and Mass, (abundantly but locally) s. on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to 
Tex., the Lesser Antilles and Venezuela; winters from Ga. and Gulf coast s. 
to w. Mex., Chile, and Brazil; casual in Colo., Nebr., Wise., Ont., and 
Iowa. 
Washington, irregular in Sept. Long Island, rare S. R., irregular S. 
V., Apl.-Sept. (Butcher). 
Nest, of grasses, seaweed, etc v in grassy marshes. Eggs , 3-4, varying 
from grayish olive-brown to greenish gray, spotted, blotched, and scrawled 
with chocolate, 2*15 x 1*55. Date, Corpus Christi, Tex., Apl. 8; Cobb’s 
Is., Va., May 26; Muskeget Is., Mass., June 7. 
This is the only Gull nesting on our Atlantic coast south of 
Maine. It was formerly abundant and generally distributed but is 
now found only locally, the colonies on Western Egg Rock in Maine 
and Muskeget Island, Massachusetts, being the only ones north of 
southern New Jersey. 
When nesting, the Laughing Gull is an inhabitant of the salt marshes. 
On Cobb’s Island, Virginia, the sitting birds were so conspicuous that 
from a distance they looked like white flowers dotting the marsh. The 
downy young, however, are much darker than young Terns, the general 
tone of their plumage resembling that of the reeds of which the nest is 
made. 
