The Western Gulls 
Taken in Santa Barbara Photo by the Author 
HIS RASCALITY. THE WESTERN GULL 
urements: length of adult 558.8-685.8 (22.00-27.00); av. of 10 Monterey specimens: 
length 580.4 (22.85); wing 420 (16.5); tail 162.4 (6.39); bill 53.3 (2.10); depth at angle 
20.2 (.79); depth at nostril (base) 18.4 (.72); tarsus 69.5 (2.74). 
Recognition Marks. —Standard of “gull size”; dark slaty blue of mantle 
distinctive in adult; adolescent black spot on angle of gonys less persistent than in 
other species; pattern of wing-tip simpler than in many, but not affording good field 
mark; uniform black of primaries long persistent, and best character of young birds, 
as distinguished from either L. glaucescens or L. argentatus ; body plumage of young 
darkest. 
Nesting. — Nest: Placed on ground or in rock niche of sea-girt islet; bulky or 
scanty; a shallow crater of grasses, dried sea wrack, seaweed, or locally, of “Farallon 
weed,” a coarse composite; ten inches from brim to brim by three inches deep. Eggs: 
