712 THE PACIFIC KITTIWAKE. 



cloudv daws or in the Arctic twilight, preceding the time of departure for the 

 Sotitli, these birds are said to utter doleful wailing cries, interspersed with 

 harsh shrieks; and these are aiimng the most characteristic sounds to be heard 

 in the teeming, tragic North. 



No. 289. 



PACIFIC KITTIWAKE. 



A. O. V. Xo. 40. Rissa tridactjia pollicaris Kidgw. 



Synonym. — K 1 TT 1 w a k !■; Gi'ix. 



Description. — Adult in siiiiuiicr: General jjlumage pure white, the mantle" 

 deep pcarl-grav : five outer primaries with terminal portion black, the Ijreadth of 

 black area on first primary about three inches, decreasing to .85 in the fifth: the 

 first black on the outer web also; the fourth and fifth narrowly tipped with white; 

 bill light yellow clouded with olivaceous ; legs and feet blackish ; the hind toe well 

 developed but minute: iris reddish brown; eye-ring red. Adult in zviiiter: Simi- 

 lar, but sides of head and hind-neck overlaid with dark gray or plumbeous, and 

 with plumbeous-slate around e\-e, most sharply in front. Iiuniaturc: Terminal 

 portion of tail, and exposed portion of primaries exhibited by folded wing, black — 

 the four outer primaries extensively white on inner webs, the color encroaching 

 upon outer web and upon tip of the 5th, black vanishing with subterminal bar on 

 6th ; a long black patch formed by bastard wing, lesser and median wing-coverts, 

 and portion of secondaries : a broad liar of black on lower nape, and broad dabs 

 of the same on sides of neck : some black smearing about eye, bill black. Length 

 16.00-17.50 ( 40(1.4-444.5 ) : wing i2.(X) 1 304.S ) : tail 4.80 (121.9 ) : bill 1.35 ( 34.3 ) ; 

 tarsus 1.35 ( 34.3 ). 



Recognition Marks. — Crow size; blackish feet of adult: snjid black nf ex- 

 treme wing-tip : lilack less extensive than in Larus dclazvarcnsis. 



Nesting. — Does not breed in Washington. Nest: on ledges of rocky clitt's, 

 of grass, moss, and seaweed. Eggs: 3 or 4, yellowish or olive-bufif, pale greenish 

 gray, etc., with spots and blotches of chocolate-ljrown and olisciu'e lilac. .A v. size, 

 2.26x1.61 (57.4x40.9). 



General Range. — Breeding on the coasts and islands of Bering Sea and the 

 North Pacific: south irregularly in winter, not commonly as far as \'ictoria. but 

 occasionally to southern or even Lower California. 



Range in Washington. — Rare winter visitors on Puget Sound and West 

 Coast. 



Authorities. — ["Pacific kittiwake." Johnson. Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (1885), 

 23.1 Anthony: Auk. XXITL April 1906, p. 130. L-'. E. 



Specimens. — ( L'. of \\'. I Prov. C. E? 



a. .\ term u?etl to designate the plumage of the back, scapulars, and wings co]lecti\ely, and which is 

 often differently colored from that of the remaining parts in birds of this family. 



