LARID.l^.. 



683 



THE KITTIWAKE GULL. 



RissA TRiDACTVLA (Liniiaeus). 



The Kittiwake — characterized by an obsolete hind-toe — is to be 

 found in British waters throughout the year ; resorting in summer to 

 jagged cliffs, where immense numbers may often be found breeding 

 in close proximity. There are colonies on Lundy Island off North 

 Devon, the Scilly Islands, Wales, the Isle of Man, Flaniborough 

 Head, and the Fame Islands ; and, on the east side of Scotland, at 

 the Bass Rock, the Isle of May, and Dunbuy in Aberdeenshire ; 

 while in the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Hebrides thousands of birds 

 whiten the precipices, and the 'guUery' on the Shiant Islands is 

 probably the most extensive in Great Britain. In Ireland, too, this 

 Gull is extremely plentiful on the precipitous portions of the sea-board. 



On the Continent the Kittiwake is not known to nest further 

 south than Brittany, but in winter it ascends the Garonne as. far 

 as Toulouse, and probably proceeds thence to the Mediterranean, 

 where it is not uncommon as far as Sicily ; it also visits the Black 

 and Caspian Seas, probably crossing Russia from the north. Its 

 southern range extends to the Canaries on this side of the Atlantic, 



