SCISSOR-BILL.— BSi/iicops nigra. 



The pretty Kittiwake Gull is tolerably xDlentiful on many of our shores, and breeds 

 upon the rocky portions of the coast. Owing to the diversity of its plumage according to 

 the age, the Kittiwake has been called by several names ; " Tarrock " being the best known 

 and belonging to the liird while young. The name of Kittiwake is given in allusion 

 to its cry, which bears some resemblance to that word rather slowly pronounced. The 

 nest of the Kittiwake is made of seaweed, and placed on narrow ledges of rock at a great 

 elevation. The nests are placed in close proximity to each other, and generally contain 

 three eggs of a brownish olive, covered with spots of grey and brown. 



Tlie head and neck of the Kittiwake are white, the upper parts of the body silvery 

 grey, the wings being diversified with a little black and much white. The under surface 

 IS pure white. Yearling Ijirds are much flecked with black on the back of the neck, and 

 many of the wing-feathers are liberally tipped and edged with the same hue, and the tail 

 is ti^iped with black. The length of the Kittiwake is nearly sixteen inches. The specific 

 name of triductylus, or three-toed, is given to the bird because the hinder toe is wanting, 

 its place being represented by a small tubercle. 



Theee are many other species of British Gulls, too numerous to be described. Among 

 these we may notice the Little Gull [Larus minutus), remarkable for its jetty black 

 head and neck and its small size, its length being little more than ten inches ; the 

 Laughing Gull {Larus atricilla), which derives its name from its curious screaming cry ; 

 the Herring or Silvery Gull {Larus argentatus), a fine species, about two feet in length, 

 with a pure wliite head and neck, and a soft grey back, and jetty black primaries with a 

 spot or two of white at the tips ; and the Ivory Gull {PagopMla eburnea), so called on 

 account of the pure white of its summer plumage. 



The name of Scissor-bill is very appropriately given to the species now before us. 



This remarkable Gull has a long and much compressed beak, the lower mandible 

 being much longer than the upper, rather flatter, and shutting into the upper like a knife- 

 blade into the handle. This beak is orauge-red at the base, deepening into black at the 

 2. ?' 



