GLAUCUS GULL
42. Larus hyperboreus. 28 in.
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.
