54 SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



Kiltiwake Gull, Larus rissa, — Mouette tridactyle, Fr. — Gabbi- 

 anco terragnala, It. An adult and a young bird of the year are 

 represented, natural size. The latter is a fine figure. Occurs on 

 the continent and in Britain, in the latter as a summer bird of pas- 

 sage. The short hind toe, characteristic of this species, has induced 

 Stephens to institute a new genus, under the title of Rissa, in 

 which Mr. Gould is not inclined to follow him. The young birds 

 have been described as L. tridaclylus, a specific name which must 

 now fall to the ground. Young birds have the bill black ; in adults 

 it is of a dark olive-colour. The mature dress is acquired at the se- 

 cond autumn. Breeds on the ledges of bold precipitous rocks over- 

 hanging the sea, forming the nest of dried grass and Sea- weed ; its 

 two eggs are olive-white, blotched with dark brown and purplish 

 grey. " The name Kittiwake is given to this bird from the pe- 

 culiar call during the season of incubation, which the male reite- 

 rates as he wheels round his mate upon the nest, or pursues his 

 way on buoyant wing over the surface of the waves." 



Red-breasted Flycatcher, Muscicapa parva, — Gobemouche rouge- 

 atre, Fr. — Kleiner Fliegenfanger, G. The young bird of the year, 

 in its second plumage, in the plate is remarkably pretty, but we are 

 not acquainted with this rare bird. The adult male bears no small 

 resemblance to our Robin Redbreast, and Mr. Gould observes that 

 " the first plumage of the young birds is spotted as in that species." 

 Its manner and action are strikingly peculiar, and appear to partake 

 of those appertaining to the species of more than one genus ; it re- 

 sembles the Robin not only in the colour of its plumage but in several 

 of its actions*, being sprightly and animated, constantly jerking its 

 tail and depressing its head in the manner our Redbreast is observed 

 to do ; it also imitates the Whin Chat in the depressed oscillating 

 movement of the tail : thus it appears to form an intermediate link 

 between the Muscicapidse on the one hand, and the Saxicolinee on 

 the other. In the comparative length and robust form of its legs, 

 this intermediate station is also further evinced; for though the 

 tarsi have not the strength which we see in the true Saxicolinee, 

 still they are more developed than in the genuine Flycatchers. It 

 is a bird of migratory habits, and in Europe its habitat appears to 

 be limited almost exclusively to the eastern portions of the conti- 

 nent. It is tolerably abundant in the neighbourhood of Vienna, 



• We made the comparison between M. parva and the Robin Redbreast — 

 at the beginning of the above description — previous to perusing Mr. Gould's 

 account. — Ed. An. 



