I 1 ORNITHOLOGY A NEW GULL FOR UTAH. , ! . ' i S. H. Goodwin. fl Written Jor the Dcscrct Farmer. f , 1 The well known story of the enck- m cts and the gdlls, with its naive and fl interesting embellishments, and the H positive service rendered by the scv- m -cral members of the family Laridac M already within our borders, make the M tadvent of another gull worthy of M more than a passing notice. And the m grace -and exquisite beauty of the 1 stranger give it an interest that it M quite independent of that which at- B fcacheg to other members of the genus. H I have called this "a new gull for H Utah." If the bird docs not belong H m this category it is because record of m its earlier appearance has escaped the notice, not only of "he present writer, 1 but that of other students of the bird H life of Utah as well. The bird which H is here given the distinction of being H new to Utah is the Franklin Gull H (Larus franklinii), But before giv- H ing the particulars oi the taking of H, the first specimens of this species in H, the state, a brief reference to a cur- H! ious situation in connection with the H common Utah Gull (Larus californi- H cits), may not be without value. H For some reason, not apparent, H several writers have referred to the gull which comes to us in such num-4 num-4 bens in the spring, end not a few of' which pass the winter with us, as the Franklin. A misplaced note on the habits of the California , Gull in Bailey's "Handbook of Birds of the Western United States," may .have been responsible, i-n part, for the error er-ror (For correction of the same by tine present writer, and acknowledgement acknowledge-ment by Prof. Bailey, sec "The Condor," Con-dor," Vol. 3, p. 99, and Vol. 7, p. 82). But that so careful an authority as Dr. A. K. Fisher, should be misled into naming the Utah bird the Franklin, Frank-lin, is occasion for .surprise. Quoting. Dr. Fisher, and, apparently, without verifying the identification, Frof. Edward Ed-ward Howe Forbush ornithologist to Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture Agri-culture in his recently .published and most valuable book' "Useful Birds and their Protection," connects the Franklin Gull with the destruction "of the crickets in pioneer days. To make the (incident more real to his readers, Prof. Forbush has inserted a picture (page 66) of the destruction of the crickets. The gulls of this picture arc 'black-headed, every one, and some of them even show the distinctive white eyelids of Frankliniill That ought to be convincing proofl But in spite of this, the fact remains that the Franklin Gull had not been taken in Utah till the present soaison, or if taken earlier, not reported. The circumstances connected with ,thc taking of this bird are as follows. Two, years ago the writer, in company com-pany with Dr. Ball, now Director of the Utah Experiment Station, and W. O. Kuudson, of Brigham, spent the larger part of three days an the Bear River "slues" -the extensive marshes and numerous channels through which the waters of that nvcr find their way into the Groat Salt Lake. On. that occasion a single black-headed gull was seen, but it was out of range before the gun could be brought into service, and it was called the Bona-port Bona-port Gull (Larcus Philadelphia), as that species had been taken in the state. Several hours of that, our last day there, were spent in an attempt to find other black-headed gulls, but without success. The opportunity to pay another visit to that particular region diet not present itself till the present season. On June 2, and again in company with Mr. Knudson, with headquarters at the Knudson clubhouse, club-house, the search for black-hcad'cd gulls was resumed. And into whnta water-bird paradise we came. Everywhere Every-where about us were Grebes, and Gulls, and Terns, end Cormorants, and White Pelicans great hosts of these huge creatures lined up along the shore of the small bay and Ducks of ten or twelve species, and Geese with their trumpct-likc, blood stirring "honk, honk, honk," and White-faced Ibis, and Heron of three species, and Rail of two kinds, and Avoccts and Stilts with their meagrely meag-rely built nests sown on the mud flats in the most reckless profusion all of these and others, to say nothing of the swarms of Blackbirds of four kinds, and Wrens, and Ycllowthroats and Swallows of five species, and many, many others. The bird man .vas fairly beside himself with delight. de-light. Our labors on the first day brought many returns, but not the bird we sought On the following morning we set out early, picked up an additional boatma-n to aid in the search, and were so.m hard at work. Rain came in sheets part of the time, but neither the birds nor the bird hunters minded it in the lccist. The forenoon had passed, the lunch had been disposed of, and we were just pushing our boats out into one of the shallow "slues," when the excited cry: "A- black-headed gull'1 brought two gunls from the boats in double quick time and before the bird could get out of range, the true aim of the old duck hunter sent him whirling to the mud flat. As the writer picked up this beautiful bird and the delicate rose tint of the body and white eyelids contrasting sharply with the soot-black soot-black head proclaimed it frainklinii, not Philadelphia his pleasure may be imagined but not described. To make the acquaintance of .1 bird new to one, and at the same t'mc add it to the bird life ol a state, is an experience that docs not occur often enough to become commonplace. The report of the gun brought other gulls about us, including some sixtocn or eighteen of the Franklin; of these we secured six, and on the following day one enough to establish the record beyond question. ques-tion. Thcne have been not a few "red-letter "red-letter (Pays" in the bird experience of the writer, but none that has afforded greater pleasure than that upon which he beheld for the first time a Frank- . tin Gull, and had hc satisfaction of knowing that a new member had been added to the bird family of Utah.