THE BIRDS 383 



exterminated it. Its broad, sharp bill in summer at once 

 distinguishes it from the murre, as well as its habit of cock- 

 ing up its tail as it swims. In its short neck it resembles 

 the puffin, but it is a larger bird, and as it flies away, it shows 

 a black line in the middle of its back between white sides, 

 while the puffin looks black from the same point of view. 

 The dovekie, or little auk, breeds farther north, but is found 

 along the coast during the migrations and in winter. 



Of the gull family it is possible to mention only a few 

 here. Perhaps the most beautiful in flight are the hunters 

 of the sea, the jaegers, who rob the other gulls and terns 

 of their prey. A pomarine jaeger in the black phase twist- 

 ing and turning in pursuit of a white kittiwake is indeed 

 a beautiful sight. The kitti wakes breed on the high cliffs 

 of the northern Labrador coast, but may be seen in great 

 flocks anywhere along the shore. An assembly of several 

 thousand of these beautiful white birds settling on the 

 water and rising to whirl about like gusts of snow driven 

 by the wind, is a wonderful sight. Their cries suggest the 

 syllables kittiwake. 



The great black-gulled gull and herring gull are such 

 familiar birds in winter farther south that they need not 

 be mentioned here, but one must not omit to speak of the 

 glorious glaucous, or burgomaster, gull. This bird, as large 

 as a great black-backed gull, breeds on the eastern coast 

 in moderate numbers. The purity of its plumage vies 

 with that of the Arctic ice that often surrounds it. The 

 long feathers of the wings are spotless white, instead of 

 being marked as in the herring gull. The adults have 

 a gray-blue mantle on the back, while the immature birds 

 lack this mantle and are of a universal whiteness slightly 

 tinged with buff. 



