288 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



breeding-places. As these, and even the old nests in 

 many cases, are returned to each season, it is probable 

 that this Gull pairs for life. The nests are usually made 

 on ledges, in crevices, and on projections and but- 

 tresses of the most inaccessible cliffs ; in large colonies 

 every possible site is utilized, many of them being side 

 by side. They are made at various heights from the 

 sea, sometimes as low as ten feet, but more often 

 midway up the rocks. The nest is large and well 

 made. Externally it is made of turf and roots, with the 

 soil adhering caked and matted together. Upon this a 

 further nest of dry sea-weed and stalks of marine plants 

 is formed^ lined with dry grass, and occasionally a few 

 feathers. The nest and the rocks near it are usually 

 well whitewashed with droppings. The bird sits rather 

 closely, as if conscious of its safety in its inaccessible 

 haunt, but when disturbed flies restlessly about, uttering 

 its noisy cry. The din made by a colony of disturbed 

 Kittiwakes must be heard to be realized. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Kittiwake are usually two or three, 

 more rarely four in number. They vary from greenish- 

 blue and brownish-olive to pale buff and bufifish-brown 

 in ground colour, blotched and spotted with reddish- 

 brown, and with underlying markings of paler brown 

 and gray. One variety has the markings few and 

 large ; another is zoned round the larger end with 

 smaller spots and blotches ; another is boldly blotched 

 over the entire surface ; on another the markings take 

 the form of short, irregular streaks. The pale underlying 

 markings are both large and numerous, and on certain 

 types preponderate over the surface-markings, which are 

 small and indistinct. Average measurement, 2" 15 inches 

 in length, by r6 inch in breadth. Incubation, performed 

 chiefly by the female, lasts twenty-six days. 



