544 ORNITHOLOGY AND -OOLOGY. 
RISSA TRIDACTYLA. — Bonaparte. 
The Kittiwake Gull. 
Larus tridactylus, Linneus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 224. Nutt. Man., II. (1834) 
298. Aud. Birds Am., VII. (1844) 146. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Adult. — Head, neck, entire under plumage, rump, and tail, white; back and 
wings light bluish-gray; the ends of the five outer primaries, and the outer web of 
the first, black; the fourth and fifth have small white tips; bill greenish yellow; iris 
reddish-brown; legs and feet brownish-black, with a green tinge. 
Young. — The head is white, marked on the hind head and neck with bluish- 
gray; a spot of the same color over the ears; a narrow crescent of black in front of 
the eye; wings and shoulders marked with black; primaries black; tail white, with 
a subterminal black band; bill black; rest of the plumage same as in the adult. 
Length, about seventeen inches; wing, twelve ; tail, five and three-quarters, 
bill, one and a half; tarsus, one and three-eighths inches. 
Hab. —Fur countries; Labrador; southern coast in winter. 
This species is not common on our coasts through the 
summer months. Audubon says it breeds as far south as 
the island of Grand Menan, off the entrance of the Bay 
of Fundy; and it probably also incubates on other islands 
off the coast of Maine. The nest is composed of sea- 
weeds, which are arranged in a large pile, and placed on 
a ledge of rock in a crevice, or on a jutting shelf. This nest 
is occupied for successive years ; and it receives additions in 
every season. The eggs are three in number. Their form 
is usually ovoidal: their color varies from a creamy-drab, 
with a very slight olivaceous tint, to a delicate gray. On 
this are scattered blotches of different shades of brown, 
and obscure spots and blotches of lilac. Of these eggs — 
as of all the eggs of Gulls and Terns—it is difficult to 
give descriptions by which specimens could be identified. 
The above description, however, answers for all the eggs 
of this species in my collection. The dimensions vary from 
2.20 by 1.60 inch to 2.04 by 1.55. 
ees Ser eel die, che a a ae ae — 
~~ 
