162 
LARUS ATRICILLA. 
In some individuals, the crown is of a dusky gray ; 
the upper part and sides of the neck, of a lead colour; 
the hill and legs, of a dirty, dark, purplish brown. 
Others have not the white spots above and below the 
eyes ; these are young birds. 
The changes of plumage, to which birds of this genus 
are subject, have tended not a little to confound the 
naturalist; and a considerable collision of opinion, 
arising from an imperfect acquaintance with the living 
subjects, has been the result. To investigate thoroughly 
their history, it is obviously necessary that the orni- 
thologist should frequently explore their native haunts ; 
and, to determine the species of periodical or occasional 
visitors, an accurate comparative examination of many 
specimens, either alive or recently killed, is indispen- 
sable. Less confusion would arise among authors, if 
they would occasionally abandon their accustomed 
walks — their studies and their museums, and seek 
correct knowledge in the only place where it is to be 
obtained — in the grand temple of nature. As it respects, 
in particular, the tribe under review, the zealous in- 
quirer would find himself amply compensated for all 
his toil, by observing these neat and clean birds coursing 
along the rivers and coast, enlivening the prospect by 
their airy movements, now skimming closely over the 
watery element, watching the motions of the surges, 
and now rising into the higher regions sporting with 
the winds, — while he inhaled the invigorating breezes 
of the ocean, and listened to the soothing murmurs of 
its billows. 
The laughing gull, known in America by the name 
of the black-headed gull, is one of the most beautiful 
and most sociable of its genus. They make their 
appearance on the coast of New Jersey in the latter 
part of April ; and do not fail to give notice of their 
arrival by their familiarity and loquacity. The inha- 
bitants treat them with the same indifference that they 
manifest towards all those harmless birds which do not 
minister either to their appetite or their avarice ; and 
hence the black-heads may be seen in companies around 
