Kittiwake 1 5 



In winter the top of the head and back of the neck are washed with 

 pearl-grey, and there is a dark spot above the eye. Young birds have 

 a dusky spot in front and behind the eye ; a broad bar across the neck 

 behind ; the lesser and median coverts, bastard quills, inner secondaries 

 and a terminal bar on the tail black ; the four outer primaries black, 

 except for the inner half of the inner webs, the 5th and 6th black 

 only at their ends, with a white speck at the tip ; bill black and feet 

 yellowish. 



Distribution. — The northern parts of the northern hemisphere. 

 In America breeding on the Atlantic coasts from the Magdalen Islands 

 northwards to Hudson Bay and Greenland ; in winter south along the 

 Atlantic coast and to the Great Lakes. 



An example of this species, said to have been taken in Boulder co. 

 in December, and preserved in Mrs. Maxwell's collection, is the only 

 ione recorded from Colorado. 



Genus LARUS. 



Bill stout and hooked, the upper mandible slightly longer than the 

 lower and bent down over its tip ; bill shorter than the head and without 

 cere ; wings moderately long ; tail square or nearly so ; front toes fully 

 webbed, hind toe quite small but usually perfect, and provided with 

 a claw. 



A large genus spread all over the world, except the central Pacific ; 

 about eighteen species in the United States. 



Key of the Species. 



A. Larger, wing over 16 ; bill yellow with a red spot near the tip 



of the lower mandible. 



a. Mantle dark slate ; two or three outer primaries tipped with 



white. L. occidentalis, p. 16. 



b. Mantle pale pearly-grey ; outer primaries with a subapical 



white spot as well as a white tip. L. argentatus, p. 16. 



B. Medium, wing 14 — 16 ; bill yellow with a transverse black band. 



a. Tarsus about equal to the middle toe and claw ; a red spot 



on the lower mandible. L. califomicus, p. 17. 



b. Tarsus ob\aously longer than the middle toe and claw ; no 



red spot on the lower mandible. L. delawarensis, p. 17. 



C. Smaller, wing under 13-5 ; hooded, i.e. head and neck black, 



in summer. 



a. Bill and feet reddish (in summer). 



a^ Larger, wing over 12 ; tarsus longer than the middle toe 

 and claw. L. atricilla, p. 18. 



b^ Smaller, wing under 12, tarsus about equal to the middle 

 toe and claw. L. franklini, p. 19. 



b. Bill black, feet reddish. L. Philadelphia, p. 20. 



