The laughing gull is a black-hooded gull of the North American coasts (
Larus atricilla), which migrates to the Amazon in winter. It is between 15 and 17 inches in length, has a mantle of slate-gray with white beneath, and in breeding season the hood, or capistrum, is nearly black. Its popular name comes from its peculiar cry which resembles boisterous laughter.
The laughing gull nests on sandy inlets from Florida to Maine, building a carefully-constructed nest of seaweed and grasses on the ground. The European species (
Larus ridibundus) is similar in character except that it is smaller in size. Both species are very numerous.
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