334 BIRDS OF KORFOLE. 



LARUS TRIDACTYLUS, Linn^us. 

 KITTIWAKE. 



The following observations on this species, which 

 subsequent experience has only tended to confirm, were 

 written by Mr. Stevenson, probably about the year 

 1861 :— 



" This very elegant species is described by the Messrs. 

 Paget as * rather rare ' at Yarmouth, and recent obser- 

 vations both in that neighbourhood and on other parts 

 of the coast, have convinced me that at no season can 

 it be termed common. Some, no doubt, occur every 

 autumn and winter among the large flocks of small 

 gulls which frequent our tidal estuaries, but in com- 

 parison with the common and black- headed gulls, very 

 few specimens indeed find their way into the hands of our 

 birdstufiers, and these, according to my own notes, are 

 obtained in spring and summer. I have known an adult 

 bird shot near the railway bridge, at Thorpe, during 

 the first week in June, and, with the aid of a glass, I 

 have recognised both old and young off" Cromer as late 

 as the end of that month, the immature birds still 

 carrying the black bar at the end of the tail." 



Unlike the other species of gull, the kittiwake is more 

 frequently met with in the adult than in the immature 

 plumage, in which state it is known as the " tarrock." 

 Mr. Dowell considers it rare at Blakeney, and accounts 

 for the scarcity from its habit of keeping more at sea 

 than most other gulls. Mr. Patterson believes they 

 are not so numerous at Yarmouth as formerly, but that 

 observation, I think, applies to all the species of gull in 

 consequence of the different arrangements for landing 

 the fish (see p. 337). He states that they may easily 

 be recognised by their tumbling, erratic, yet easy flight. 

 Although generally most frequent in spring and autumn, 

 this species is occasionally met with at all seasons of 

 the year, but never, as Mr. Stevenson remarks, in large 

 numbers, and less often inland than the common gull. 



In the end of February, 1890, many young kitti wakes 

 and old and young razorbills were found dead along the 

 shore just previous to the severe weather accompanied 



