220 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



spherically oval, have a dark, grayish-brown ground, with irregular 

 patches of darker l)rown-l)lack. They vary somewhat in size, but the 

 shape and pattern of coloring is more constant than in any other 

 species up here. 



Tlie young burgomaster comes from the shell at the expiration of 

 the regular three weeks' incubation, wearing a pure white, thick coat 

 of fluffy down, which is speedily supplanted by a brownish-black and 

 gray plumage, with which the bird takes flight, having nearly attained 

 the size of the parent in less than six aggregate we'eks. This dark 

 coat changes during the next three months to one nearly white, with 

 the lavender-gray back of the adult. The legs change from a sickly, 

 pale, grayish tone to the rich yellow gray of the mature condition, 

 and the bill also passes from a dull brown color to a bright yellow, 

 with a red spot at the top of the lowei- mandible. It has a loud, shrill^ 

 eagle-like scream, becoming more monotonous by its repetition, and 

 it also utters a low, chattering croak while coasting. It is a very 

 cleanly bird about its nest, and keeps its plumage in a condition of 

 snowy purity. It is not very numerous. I do not think that there 

 were more tlian five or six hundred nesting on Walrus Islet at the 

 time of my A'isit in 1872. 



30. Larus tridactylus var. Kotzebui. Pacific Kittiwake; "Chornie- 



NAUSHKIE GOVEROOSKIE." 



This gull breeds here by tens of thousands, in company mth its first 

 cousin, Larus hrevirostris, coming at the same time, but laying a 

 week or ten days earlier than its relative. In all other respects it 

 corresponds in habit and is in just about the same number. It is a 

 remarkably constant bird in plumage coloration when adult, for I 

 have failed to observe the slightest variation among the great num- 

 bers here under my notice. In building its nest it uses more grass 

 and less mud cement than the hrevirostris does. The eggs are more 

 pointed at the small end and lighter in the ground color, with numer- 

 ous splotches of dark brown. The chick is difficult to distinguish 

 with certainty from tlie hrevirostris, and it is not until two or three 

 weeks have passed that any difference can be noted between them as 

 to the length of bill and color of feet. 



31. Larus hrevirostris. Red-legged Kittiwake; ''Goverooskie." 



This beautiful gull is one of the most elegant of all birds on the 

 wing, and is, perhaps, as handsome as any known to the sight, wiien 

 it rests. It seems to delight in favoring these islands with its pres- 

 ence, to the exclusion of other land, coming here by tens of thousands 

 to breed. Certain it is that my speciniens testify to its special 

 abundance, and that it is by far the most attractive of all of its kind. 

 The short, symmetrical bill, large hazel eye with crimson lids, and 

 rich coral or vermilion-red legs and feet, contrast beautifully with the 

 snowy-wliite plumage of its head, neck, lavender back, and under 

 parts. 



Like Larus glaiicus, this bird remains about the islands during the 

 whole season, coming on the cliff's for the purpose of nest building, 

 breeding by the 0th of May and deserting the bluffs when the birds 

 are fully fledged and ready for flight, early in October. It is much 

 more prudent and cautious than the auks and the murres, for its nests 

 are always placed on nearly inaccessible shelves and points of mural 

 walls, so that seldom can one be reached, unless a person is lowered 

 down to it by a rope passed over the cliff. 



