A small Gull, eighteen inches in length, with a light gray mantle, black primaries with white tips, and always to be distinguished in the breeding season by the black band around the middle of the greenish yellow bill. They nest in enormous colonies on islands in the interior of the country and in smaller colonies on the coasts. Thousands of them breed on the lakes of the Dakotas and northward. The majority of them nest on the ground, although on the coast they are often found on the cliffs. They commonly lay three eggs placing them in a slight hollow in the ground, generally on the grassy portions of the islands. The color varies from grayish to brownish, marked with brown and lilac. The height of the nesting season is in June. Size of eggs, 2.80 × 1.75. [Illustration 047: Grayish brown.] [Illustration: Ring-billed Gull. California Gull.] [Illustration: right hand margin.] Page 46 55. SHORT-BILLED GULL. _Larus brachyrhynchus._ Range.--Breeds from the interior of British Columbia northward to Alaska; south in winter to Lower California. The Short-billed or American Mew Gull is seventeen inches in length, has a short, stout bill and is otherwise similar to the preceding species. Nests on islands in the lakes and along the river banks of Alaska. The nest is made of grass, weeds and moss and is placed on the ground. Early in June the birds lay their set of three eggs, the ground color of which is greenish brown marked with dark brown. Size 2.25 × 1.60. Data.--Mackenzie River, N. W. T., June 18, 1900. Three eggs. Nest made of seaweed and grass and placed on the ground on an island in the river. 56. MEW GULL. _Larus canus._ This is the European variety of the above species, breeding commonly both in the British Isles and northern Europe. This species is given a place in our avifauna because of its accidental appearance in Labrador. 57. HEERMAN'S GULL. _Larus heermanni._ Range.--Pacific Coast of North America from British Columbia south to Panama, breeding chiefly south of the United States border. A very handsome species, often called the White-headed Gull, and wholly unlike any other; length seventeen inches. Adults, in summer, have the entire head, neck and throat white, this shading quite abruptly into the slaty upper and under parts; the primaries and tail are black, the latter and the secondaries being tipped with white. The legs and bill are vermilion. They are found off the coast of California, but are not believed to breed there. They are known to breed on some of the islands off the Mexican coast nesting on the ground the same as the other species. The three eggs are greenish drab in color and are marked with different shades of brown and lilac. Size 2.45 × 1.50. [Illustration: Pale greenish-brown.] [Illustration: Short-billed Gull. Heerman's Gull.] [Illustration: Left hand margin.] Page 47 58. LAUGHING GULL. LARUS ATRICILLA.