NATURE STUDY 
184 
attractive. At St. Augustine, in March, I have stood upon 
the sea-wall and studied a flock of them, not forty feet 
away; now resting lightly on the water, now playfully 
chasing each other along the shore, or foraging for bits of 
food that might have escaped the sharks which abound 
both on land and sea. 
In summer Bonaparte’s Gull has a dark slate-colored 
head and throat, but in winter these parts become a dusky 
white. The back and wings are pearl gray, with black 
patches near the ends of the primaries, and the tail and 
under parts are white. The breeding range is North Am¬ 
erica, north of the United States, but they confine them¬ 
selves to the central and western portions, there being no 
breeding records for the Atlantic coast. Bradford Torrey 
says they should be called surf gulls, from their habit of 
flying low over the waves where they break on the shore, 
darting into the tops for hits of food or small fish. 
The Laughing, or Black-headed Gull (Larus atricilla ) 
is the southern representative of the family. The first 
name is earned by the weird cry, a wild, sarcastic “ Ha ! 
ha ! ha ! ha ! ” that he gives when excited.- He has the 
slate-black hood and chest protector, which change to a 
mottled gray in winter. The back and wings are the usu¬ 
al pearl gray, the primaries black ; elsewhere he is pure 
white. Immature birds of this, and the preceding species, 
have a black band across the white tail near the tip, which 
makes their identification easy. The breeding range of 
the Laughing Gull is Central America and along the At¬ 
lantic coast to Nova Scotia, but as far north as New Eng¬ 
land he is only common locally. He is a great favorite of 
mine, probably because in my early ornithological days I 
studied him at long range for several days before making 
up my mind as to his identity. So I always salute him 
with Rip van Winkle’s toast, “ Here’s to your health, and 
your families’. May they live long and prosper.” He is 
