Part 7

Plumage white with a pearl gray mantle; no black in the plumage, the primaries being white or grayish; bill and eye yellow, the former with a red spot at the end of the lower mandible; feet flesh color. In winter, the head is slightly streaked with brownish. Young birds are mottled grayish brown and white, of varying shades, but always lighter than the young of the Herring Gull. Some specimens are very beautiful, being entirely white, with a few spots of brownish on the back, resembling the markings of a light-colored Snowy Owl. This species is one of the largest and most powerful of the gull family, only surpassed by the Great Black-backed Gull.

Nest.—Usually a bulky structure of grasses, seaweed and moss placed on the ground; the two or three eggs are brownish gray with brown and black spots (3. × 2.20).

Range.—Breeds from Labrador and Hudson Bay northward; winters south to New England, the Great Lakes and Calif.

ICELAND GULL 43. Larus leucopterus. 25 in.

Plumage exactly like that of the Glaucus Gull but the birds are smaller and are found farther north.

Range.—Breeds in Greenland and winters south to Northern New England and the Great Lakes.

KUMLIEN GULL 45. Larus kumlieni. 27 in.

Plumage very similar to that of the Iceland and Glaucus Gulls, but with the primaries conspicuously gray, with white tips. As usual with the gull family, this species feeds largely, during the nesting season upon eggs and young of other sea birds. They seem to have a special liking for Cormorant eggs, and these ungainly creatures have to sit on their nests very closely to prevent being robbed.

Range.—Breeds about the mouth of Hudson Bay; winters south to Long Island.

GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL 47. Larus marinas. 29 in.

Largest and most powerful of our gulls. Adults in summer have the head, tail and underparts white, back slaty black, eyes and bill yellow, with a red spot near the tip of the lower mandible; feet flesh color; primaries tipped with white. In winter, the head is streaked with dusky. Young birds are mottled with dusky brown above, and streaked with the same below. These birds are very rapacious, and besides feeding upon refuse, fish and shellfish, devour, during the summer season, a great many eggs and young of other sea birds; this habit is common to nearly all the larger gulls.

Notes.—A laughing “ha-ha” and a harsh “keouw.”

Nest.—Either hollows on the ground or masses of weeds and drift, hollowed out to receive the three grayish brown eggs, spotted with blackish and lilac (3. × 2.15).

Range.—These gulls breed from Newfoundland northward, being most abundant on the Labrador coast. In winter they are found as far south as the Carolinas, usually in company with Herring Gulls.

HERRING GULL 51. Larus argentatus. 24 in.

Adults in summer, white, with gray mantle, and black primaries tipped with white. In winter, the head and neck are streaked below with grayish brown. Bills of adults, yellow with red spot on lower mandible; eye yellow; feet flesh color; bill of young, flesh color with a blackish tip. These are the most abundant of the larger gulls and the best known because of their southerly distribution. Several of the smaller Maine islands have colonies of thousands of birds each, and in winter great numbers of them are seen in all the harbors along our seacoast. Young gulls are born covered with down, and can run swiftly and swim well.

Notes.—“Cack-cack-cack” and very noisy squawkings when disturbed at their breeding grounds.

Nest.—A hollow in the ground, or a heap of weeds and trash. The three eggs are olive-gray, spotted with black (2.8 × 1.7).

Range.—Breeds from Maine, the Great Lakes and Dakotas northward; winters south to the Gulf of Mexico.

RING-BILLED GULL 54. Larus delawarensis. 18 in.

Adults in summer.—White with pearl gray mantle; ends of outer primaries black with white tips; eye yellow; feet and bill greenish-yellow, the latter crossed by a black band near the tip. In winter, the head and neck are streaked with grayish. Young birds are mottled brownish-gray above, and the tail has a band of blackish near the end.

The adults can be distinguished from the Kittiwakes, which most closely resemble them, by the yellowish feet and white tips to the black primaries.

Nest.—In hollows in the ground, usually in grass. The two or three eggs are gray or brownish gray, strongly marked with black (2.80 × 1.75). They breed in large colonies, often in company with other gulls and terns.

Range.—Whole or North America, breeding from Newfoundland, Dakota and British Columbia northwards, most abundantly in the interior; winters from Northern United States southward.

LAUGHING GULL 58. Larus atricilla. 16 in.

Largest of the black-headed gulls. Bill and feet carmine-red; primaries wholly black or only with slight white tips; eye brown; in breeding season, with the underparts tinged with pinkish. In winter, without the black hood, the head being tinged with grayish, and the bill and feet dusky. Young birds are like winter adults with the back more or less mixed with brownish and the tail crossed by a black band. The most southerly distributed of our eastern gulls, its northern breeding place being on the southern shore of Mass.

Notes.—Strange cackling laughter; hence their name.

Nest.—Heaps of rubbish and weeds on the ground in wet marshes. The 3 to 5 eggs are gray or olive-gray with black spots (2.25 × 1.60).