NX MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



1S- 



[39] Pagophila alba (Gunn.). Ivory Gull. Mr. George O. Welch tells me that he d 

 tinctly remembers one of these Gulls shot by a fisherman off Swampscott fifty years ago or 

 so, and brought to Jillson, who mounted it. What became of the specimen he does not know. 



14 [40] Rissa tridactyla (Linn.). 

 Kittiwake ; "Pinny Owl"; "Winter Gull." 



Common winter visitor ; September 6 to March 10. 



My earliest date is of a bird shot at I pswich Beach by a gunner on Septem- 

 ber 6th, 1903. They do not become common until the middle of October. 



The Kittiwake is an off-shore Gull, one that is to be found especially about 

 fishing vessels in winter, gleaning the waves for the refuse which is always to 

 be found in the neighborhood of these boats. In my notes of a trip to Nova 

 Scotia from Boston, in December, 1883, I have entered that they were very 

 abundant everywhere off the coast. Off Rockport in winter, Kittiwakes begin 

 to be common two or three miles from land, and are generally abundant on the 

 fishing grounds eight or ten miles out. They may, however, be frequently seen 

 from the shore, especially if the day be stormy and the shore an open one. 

 They often visit the little harbor of Rockport with its wealth of fish gurry. 

 They also fly occasionally over the beaches and under these circumstances I 

 have had no difficulty in shooting them for specimens, as, unlike the Herring 

 Gull, they do not hesitate to fly within gunshot. I have never seen them in the 

 tidal estuaries. 



The flight of the Kittiwake is swift and graceful, and is at times flickering 

 and tern-like, especially when the bird is picking up food from the water. They 

 are easily attracted about a boat by throwing out pieces of fish-livers, and then 

 they can be observed at close range. 



The following interesting notes on the habits of the Kittiwake as observed 

 in Essex County, were published by Mr. Brewster, 1 in 1882 : "Some fishermen 

 whom I lately employed to get a few Kittiwake Gulls on the winter fishing 

 grounds off Swampscott, Massachusetts, gave me the following interesting 

 account of the habits of this species, and the way in which my specimens were 

 procured. 



A number of small schooners sail from Swampscott every winter morning 

 and reach the fishing banks, which are some twelve miles off shore, about day- 

 break. The men then take to their dories, and buckets of bait — generally cod- 



1 Wm. Brewster: Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, vol. 7, p. 125, 1882. 



