Page:The birds of America, volume 7.djvu/264

192 Young Bird in September.

Bill light blue, dusky at the end. Iris brown. Tarsi and basal portion of the toes and webs light blue, the rest black. The general colour of the plumage is sooty-brown, lighter on the neck and lower parts; the feathers of the back are all tipped with whitish, and the breast, sides, lower wing- coverts, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts, are undulatingly barred with pale greyish-yellow.

Length to end of tail 15^ inches, to end of wings 13^, to end of claws 13i; wing from flexure 11^; tail 65, the middle feathers only § longer than the rest; bill along the back 1^; tarsus If; middle toe and claw 1^. Weight 7 oz.

During winter this indefatigable teaser of the smaller Gulls often ranges along our southern coasts as far as the Mexican Gulf, where I have seen it, as well as opposite the shores of the Floridas; but I never met with a single individual in summer, even in the most northern parts, although I had expected to find it breeding on the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland.

Few birds surpass it in power or length of flight. It generally passes through the air at a height of fifty or sixty yards, flying in an easy manner, ranging over the broad bays, on which Gulls of various kinds are engaged in procuring their food. No sooner has it observed that one of them has secured a fish, than it immediately flies toward it and gives chase. It is almost impossible for the Gull to escape, for the warrior, with repeated jerkings of his firm pinions, sweeps towards it with the rapidity of a Peregrine Falcon pouncing on a Duck. Each cut and turn of the Gull only irritates him the more and whets his keen appetite, until by two or three sudden dashes, he forces it to disgorge the food it had so lately swallowed. This done, the poor Gull may go in search of more; the Lestris is now for awhile contented, and alights on the water to feed at leisure. But soon.