KITTIWAKE GLAUCOUS GULL. 43 



GENUS RISSA STEPHENS. 

 RISSA TRIDACTYLA (LINN.). 



15. Kittiwake. (40) 



Hind toe appearing only as a minute knob, its claw abortive. Mantle, 

 rather dark grayish-blue ; first primary, with the whole outer web, and the 

 entire end for about two inches, black ; next one, with the end black about as 

 far, but outer web elsewhere light, and a white speck at extreme tip ; on the 

 rest of the primaries that have black, this color decreases in extent proportion- 

 ally to the shortening of the quills, so that the base of the black on all is in the 

 same line when the wings are closed (a pattern peculiar to the species of Rissa) ; 

 and these all have white apex. Bill, yellow, usually clouded with olivaceous ; 

 feet, dusky olivaceous. Rather small; 16-18; wing, 12; bill, lg-li; tarsus, 

 about the same ; middle toe and claw, longer ; tail, usually slightly emarginate. 

 In winter, nape and hind neck shaded with the color of the mantle. Young : 

 Bill, black ; a black bar on the tail, another across the neck behind ; wings and 

 back variously patched with black ; dark spots before and behind the eyes ; 

 quills mostly black. 



HAB. Arctic regions, south on the Atlantic coast in winter to the Great 

 Lakes and the Middle States. 



Nest of grass and seaweed, usually placed on cliffs or ledges of rock over- 

 hanging the water. 



Eggs, two or three, greenish-gray, marked irregularly with varying shades 

 of brown. 



The Kittiwake is a species of wide distribution, being common 

 along the coast of New England, while in the north it is found in 

 Greenland, and has been reported from nearly all parts of the Arctic 

 regions and many intermediate points. It breeds throughout its 

 range, but always returns from the far north at the approach of 

 winter. At that season it is very common around the west end of 

 Lake Ontario, and in the summer it is one of those which assemble 

 on the bird rocks of the St. Lawrence in such numbers as to give the 

 rocks, when seen from a distance, the appearance of being covered 

 with snow. 



LARUS GLAUCUS (BRUNN.). 

 16. Glaucous Gull. (42) 



Adult: Plumage, pure white except the mantle, which is grayish-blue. 

 Bill, gamboge yellow with a carmine patch toward the end of the lower 

 mandible ; feet, flesh color. In the young the upper parts are yellowish-white, 



