THE KITTIWAKE. 31 



specimen was shot in Balta Sound, Shetland ; an- 

 other was killed in the Firth of Clyde, both in 

 immature plumage; since it has only been again 

 noticed once, as recorded by Mr. Thompson in his 

 report on the Fauna of Ireland, a specimen being 

 noticed in a field near Tralee. On the conti- 

 nental shores it is also very rare, appearing, ac- 

 cording to northern ornithologists, more frequently 

 northward. Its proper resorts are the high Arctic 

 latitudes, where it is met with both by the whaling 

 vessels and by nearly all the northern expeditions. 

 Dr. Richardson observed it breeding on the cliffs of 

 Cape Parry in lat. 70. 



An Arctic specimen of this bird is entirely pure 

 white. In the dried state, the bill is dark at the 

 base, apparently greenish grey, the tip before the 

 nostrils yellowish ; the feet and legs brownish black, 

 very little unfeathered space above the tarsal joint ; 

 the feet small, the webs deeply cut. In the young 

 state it is more or less varied with blackish grey and 

 brown. 



THE KITTIWAKE, LARUS RISSA, Linn. Rissa 

 Brwinichii, Steph. Mouette tridactyle, Femm. 

 Kittlwake of British 'authors (Tarrock, the young). 

 This small but handsome species is truly maritime 

 in habits, and recedes slightly from the type in the 

 imperfect development of the hallux, the backward 

 position of the legs, and the weaker tarsi. It is a 

 bird widely distributed, and breeds in most suitable 

 localities on all our shores from Shetland to the Isle 



