86 HERRING GULL. wardly by the use of feet, wings, and bill. For this rea- son it nests near the water s edge, often where it can slide from the eggs directly into its true element. The nest is a slight depression m the earth, in which are laid two elliptical eggs, in color ohve-brown, shghtlj spotted with blackish. LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS. (ORDER LONGIPENNES.) Gulls and Terns. (Family Larid^.) No birds are more widely distributed than the Gulls and Terns. Some species are pelagic, visiting the land H • Gull ^^^^^ ^* ^^°S intervals and wlien nest- Larm argentatuJ ing ; othcrs live along the coast, and sviithsonianns. several specics resort to inland waters. About one hundred S23ecies are known, fifty being Gulls and fifty Terns. The former are, as a rule, larger, stouter birds than the latter, and, generally speaking, are more maritime. The commonest of the ten species found in the Eastern States is the Herring Gull. It nests from Maine northward, and is found southward along our coast from October 1 to April. This is the Gull we see in such numbers in our bays and harbors, flying gracefully and apparently aimlessly about, but in reality ever keeping its bright black eyes fixed on the water in search of some floating morsel, which it deftly picks from the surface. It frequently follows vessels, hanging over the stern day after day, and deserting its post only to feed on scraps thrown overboard from the galley. There are said to be reliable records of these birds following the same vessel from the Irish coast to New York Harbor. Gulls do excellent service in devouring much refuse that would otherwise be cast ashore to decay ; but, useful
