Paul Dugan, age 13, of Wilmington, Del., for his question:

WHERE CAN YOU FIND THE FRANKLIN'S GULL?

Franklin's gull is the name of a bird, but it isn't a sea bird like most gulls. It lives on the prairies during the summer and is also called the prairie pigeon.

The Franklin's gull breeds from southern Canada to Oregon and east to Iowa. It spends the winter from Louisiana to South America.

A Franklin's gull is about 14 inches long and has a head and neck that is dark gray in summer, but turns white in winter. The body is white with a bluish gray back. It has a red bill tipped with black.

Flocks of Franklin's gulls fly over the prairies, giving flutelike cries.

The birds nest among the reeds of marshy lakes and build their nests of rushes. Thousands of the birds build colonies of many nests fairly close together. By the end of May, the female has laid two or three eggs, dull white to olive, with brown blotches.

Franklin's gull helps the farmer by eating many harmful insects.