LARID®. 595 
chooses to place it amongst lofty cliffs, on narrow 
ledges or inaccessible pinnacles of rocks. ‘The 
nest itself is composed of a layer of mud at the base, 
on which is laid a thick matting of dry campion- 
stalks; it is lined with shreds of grass and sea- 
weed. The foundation of this nest appears to be a 
permanent structure, as the Kittiwake does not build 
a new nest every year, but partly demolishes the old 
one, and adds fresh dry weeds.” * 
Like all Gulls the Kittiwake varies much in 
plumage, according to its age and to the time of 
year. The young bird has the bill black; the whole 
of the head and neck white, except a spot of black 
on the ear-coverts and some hair-like black feathers 
under the eye; round the lower part of the back of 
the neck is a band of black which reaches to the 
sides of the breast; between this and the back is a 
band of white; the back and scapulars are gull-grey, 
some of the longer scapulars tipped with white; the 
lesser wing-coverts are black, making a broad black 
mark from the point of the wing to the tertials; the 
tertials are gull-grey, tipped with white, and some of 
them marked in the centre with black; the primary 
quills are black, except a long patch of white on the 
inner web; the shorter quills are tipped with white 
also, and the other light parts are more inclining to 
srey than white; the tail is white, with a broad black 
* © Zoologist’ for 1868 (Second Series, p. 1867). 
