"The brown, brown woods of March Are the green, green woods of May, And they lift their arms with a freer swing And shake out their pennons gay. And the brown, dead world of March Is the living world of to-day; Life throbs and flushes and flashes out In the color and fragrance of May."
[Illustration: FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES. 5-99 BONAPARTE'S GULL. 4/9 Life-size. CHICAGO COLORTYPE CO. COPYRIGHT 1899, NATURE STUDY PUB. CO., CHICAGO.]
BONAPARTE'S GULL. (_Larus Philadelphia._)
The whole of North America is the home of this pretty little gull--from the Bermudas to Labrador on the east, California to the Yukon on the west, and from the Gulf of Mexico at least to the Arctic circle. This species is often common near streams and other bodies of water large enough to furnish their food of fish. I have often seen flocks of twenty or more birds passing over central Iowa during the vernal migrations, sometimes even stooping to snatch some toothsome grub from the freshly turned furrow, but oftener sweeping past within easy range in that lithe, graceful flight so characteristic of this small gull. To the farm boy, shut in away from any body of water larger than an ice pond, where no ocean birds could ever be expected to wander, the appearance of this bird, bearing the wild freedom of the ocean in his every movement, is truly a revelation. It sends the blood coursing hotly through his veins until the impulse to get away into the broader activities of life cannot be put down. I know not why it is, but some birds, seen for the first time, seem to waft the perfume of an unknown country to us, well-nigh irresistibly calling us away upon a new field of exploration or endeavor.
The flight of Bonaparte's gull is worthy of careful study. In common with the other members of the group of gulls, he progresses easily by continuous leisurely wing beats, each stroke of the wings seeming to throw the light body slightly upward as though it were not more than a feather's weight. In the leisurely flight the watchful eye is turned hither and thither in quest of some food morsel, which may be some luckless fish venturing too near the surface of the water, or possibly floating refuse. The flight is sometimes so suddenly arrested that the body of the bird seems to be thrown backward before the plunge is made, thus giving the impression of a graceful litheness which is not seen in the larger birds of this group.