DIBECTORT TO BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



b. Ocean Gulls. Rissa. 



Size, medium ; mantle, bluish ; white beneath in all stages 

 of plumage ; bill, short, rather slender, fig. 45 ; tail, slightly 

 emarginate ; hind toe, rudimentary or absent. Habits, social. 



1. KITTIWAKE GULL, R. tkidactyla. 17.00; man- 

 tle, bluish-gray ; five out- Fig. 47. 

 er quills with the termi- 

 nal i^ortions black; oth- 

 er wispi pure white; eye- 

 lid s, v e r m i 1 i o n, iris, 

 brown ; bill, yellow ; feet, 

 black, fig. 47. In winter 

 suffused with grayish on 

 hind head and neck , and 

 in front and behind eye. F, A, b, 1, 1-10. 

 Young, differ from winter adult in having a line crossing in- 

 ner portion of wing, a patch on back of neck and tip of tail, 

 black, and more black on primaries; iris, yellowish-white; 

 bill, yellow, vermillion spot near tip of lower mandible; feet, 

 pink. Downy young, white, with base of wings, hind neck, 

 back, rump and flanks, yellowish. Breeds from the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence northward in June; migrating southward in 

 Sept. ; winters, from coast of N. E. south to the Middle States, 

 casually nearly to the Bahamas ; goes north in April. Oc- 

 curs off the coast but approaches the land at times, especi- 

 ally off headlands and along open beaches. Flight, graceful, 

 easy, and rather tern-like. Common cry in breeding season, 

 '''•Kitttivke, wake -wake ivaker^ 



c. Gulls. Larus. 

 Size, variable comprising the largest and smallest of the 

 family; adults, white beneath with mantles of varying shades ; 

 head and neck, white; grayish behind in winter. Young, 

 brown, assuming the adult dress slowly ; tail short and square. 

 Very social. Flight, strong, steady, direct ; wing-beats, rath- 

 er slow; cries, loud, harsh, and considerably varied. 



