In the genus Larus, as throughout this Family, the arrangement followed is that of Mr. Howard Saunders,[[199]] much of whose admirable work is here incorporated. His first section comprises species with a white tail but no hood, the young having the head striated. Of these, L. glaucus, the Burgomaster or Glaucous Gull, and L. leucopterus, the Iceland Gull, are the only members of the group with nearly white primaries, the former being larger, with proportionately shorter wings. In summer the former is circumpolar, and the latter occurs from Jan Mayen to Greenland and perhaps the west side of Baffin Bay; in winter both visit Britain, but the latter only reaches the Gulf of Gascony, and Boston in America, whereas its ally extends to the Mediterranean, the Caspian, Japan, California, and the Bermudas. At this season the head shows brown markings; while the young are entirely mottled, though they apparently become creamy white just before assuming the grey mantle. L. glaucescens of the North Pacific, L. nelsoni of North-West America, and L. kumlieni of Cumberland Sound have the quills chequered with grey, and connect the above with the following or blacker-quilled group.
L. argentatus, our Herring Gull, has a blue-grey mantle; the black primaries shew white tips and "mirrors" or round white marks, as well as a grey wedge on the inner web; the feet are flesh-coloured, the orbits yellowish. In winter the head is streaked, and in the young the plumage is mottled with brown. This species extends over Northern Europe and most of North America, ranging to the south of those countries in the cold season; its representative in the Mediterranean and Central Asia is L. cachinnans, with yellow feet and red orbits, and in Arctic Siberia L. vegae, chiefly differing from the last-named in its pinkish legs. L. audouini of the Western Mediterranean has blackish feet, and a crimson bill with black band. L. canus, the Common Gull, found throughout Northern Europe and Asia, and migrating to the Mediterranean, the Nile, the Persian Gulf, and China, has white mirrors on the first three primaries, yellow bill, and greenish-yellow feet. It has occurred in Labrador, and breeds in North Britain on islands, lakes, and flat stacks, though rarely, if ever, on cliff-faces; the shrill note is more like that of the Herring Gull than the harsh cry of our Black-backs. The smaller and darker L. brachyrhynchus occupies North-Western America, reaching California in winter; the paler L. delawarensis, with a subterminal black band on the yellowish bill, frequents lakes and marshes in North America, and breeds towards the north; L. californicus, with little black on the beak, inhabits western North America.
Of the Black-backed Gulls, L. marinus, the Great Black-back, largest of the Family except L. glaucus, is found from Arctic Europe to North-East America, migrating as far as the Mediterranean, the Canaries, and Florida; it has a grey wedge on the primaries like the Herring Gull, and pinkish feet. Somewhat scarce in Britain in summer and comparatively non-gregarious, it is noted for its fierceness, and will even attack sheep. The smaller L. dominicanus, with olive feet, ranges from lat. 10° S. in South America to South Africa and New Zealand, with the corresponding Antarctic Seas; L. schistisagus of the North Pacific being intermediate between this and the next species. L. fuscus, the Lesser Black-back, found both on our shores and inland, has yellow feet; its main range covers North Europe, excluding Iceland; but it even breeds in Morocco and on the Red Sea, extending in winter still further southwards. The similar L. affinis of North Russia and West Siberia, with coarser feet, migrates to Somaliland, India, and occasionally other districts; the very stout-billed L. occidentalis represents our species on the Pacific coast of North America.
Mr. Saunders's next section contains five Gulls resembling the last group in having no hood and a white tail; but here the young have the head and tail-coverts unspotted. To this belong L. bulleri of New Zealand, the Chatham and Auckland Islands, with black bill and feet, which haunts inland rivers; and also four marine forms with crimson bill and feet. These are L. scopulinus of New Zealand, the Chatham and Auckland Islands; the larger L. novae hollandiae of Australia, Tasmania, and New Caledonia; the South African L. hartlaubi, found in Madagascar; and L. gelastes, ranging from North-West Africa and the Mediterranean to the Caspian and Sind, which lays its Tern-like eggs on sand-banks.
The third section differs in having a subterminal black band on the tail, and, in the young, an irregularly striated hood. L. crassirostris, of the Chinese and Japanese Seas, has the base of the tail and the under parts white, the bill yellow, banded with red and black, the feet yellowish; L. belcheri, of Peru and Chili, has a blackish mantle and stouter beak; L. heermani of western North America has the tail black except for a white tip, a grey lower surface, red bill, and black feet; L. modestus, also of Peru and Chili, differing in its decidedly grey tail and black beak.
The last-named is a connecting link with the fourth section, containing the Hooded Gulls; that is, those with hoods in mature plumage, but no marked hood in the young. Of these, all except the first three have the mantle grey and the head more or less white in winter; they are rather small birds, which chiefly inhabit the north, commonly breed in marshes, and utter a shrill querulous cry.
L. fuliginosus of the Galápagos, and L. leucophthalmus of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, are deep lead-coloured above with black head; but the former is grey below with no admixture of white, while the latter has a white nuchal collar, as has the much browner L. hemprichi, extending from East Africa to Bombay. L. cirrocephalus of Brazil, Argentina, and West and Central East Africa, which occurs in Peru and Natal, has a pale grey head; whereas a brown hood distinguishes L. brunneicephalus of Central–and in winter Southern–Asia, L. maculipennis, ranging from Brazil to Patagonia and Chili, L. glaucodes of Chili, Patagonia, and the Falklands, and L. ridibundus, the British Black-headed or Peewit Gull, which occupies Europe and temperate Asia, migrating to North Africa, India, and China. These four differ considerably in the pattern of the primaries,[[200]] but all have red bill and feet. The colonies of our marsh-breeding species supply large quantities of eggs for eating.
Fig. 62.–Great Black-headed Gull. Larus ichthyaëtus. × 2⁄13.
Of the black-hooded, grey-mantled forms, which have as a rule red bill and feet, L. atricilla, the Laughing Gull, of the Atlantic coast of North America and Western Mexico, alone has black outer primaries; this species and L. franklini, of the interior of sub-Arctic America, having exceptionally dark mantles, and the latter pinkish under parts. Both migrate south in winter. L. philadelphia, Bonaparte's Gull, of all North America, which, like its two following congeners, strays to Britain, has the bill black; L. melanocephalus, of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, has a jet black head, a partly red bill, and nearly white quills; the very large L. ichthyaëtus ranging from the Black Sea and the Levant to Tibet, and wintering in Southern Asia, has the bill almost orange. L. saundersi, a slender-legged stout-billed bird, inhabits the rivers and coasts of China and Mongolia; L. serranus of the Andes from Ecuador to Chili being a near ally. L. minutus, the Little Gull, frequenting marshy districts in sub-Arctic and temperate Europe and Asia in summer, and reaching the Mediterranean in winter, is quite the smallest of the genus.